Ends are beginnings
by lovewritingpictures
Summary: Chuck and Serena dealing with Dair and descovering that the end of something is always the beginning of something else :
1. The aftermath

"_**Hearts can break. Yes, hearts can break. Sometimes I think it would be better if we died when they did, but we don't." Stephen King, Hearts in Atlantis**_

Seeing Serena broken in front of him was getting to Chuck. She did not deserve this; she had loved Dan in a beautiful way. Maybe his heart breaking over Blair was everything he deserved but that was not Serena's case.

That afternoon he had promised Lily he would look after Serena and make sure she was okay. He was the stronger of the two, somewhere along the way he got used to the darkness and misery; he knew how to deal with pain. In fact, it was knew how to do.

"Serena, you need to eat something", Chuck's tired voice echoed through the living room.

"I am not hungry, thank you".

Serena did not event look at him while answering. She was curled up in the sofa, her magnificent hair looking dull tied up in a messed bunny. Her eyes were sad and lost; she was wearing sweat pants and an oversized old black shirt. Serena fucking Van der Woodsen was wearing oversized clothes. This had to stop.

Chuck sat next to her and took her face in his hands.

"You are going to eat then you're going to bed. Tomorrow you will get up, put on nice clothes, take care of your wonderful hair and wear light make-up then you are going to go outside this house".

Serena took his hands away.

"I don't want to Chuck, it hurts so much".

Chuck sighed.

"I know Serena but when you're going through hell the only option you have is to keep going."

Serena looked at him for the first time in the whole conversation.

"They are happy Chuck, they are in love and happy. The worst thing is that I cannot even recognize them anymore. Blair is nothing like Blair and Dan is nothing like the boy I fell in love with. They are not coming back Chuck".

Chuck sighed and took Serena's hand in his before looking at her and whispering:

"Then we'll let them go Serena, we'll let them go".

Chuck did not know how to do it. His life had revolved around Blair since he was a teenager. He did not even know if it was possible to let go of her. It did not matter though. In despite of what would happen, they were all too far-gone. Blair was gone and he had to accept it. Right now, he had an objective in his life: make sure Serena never have to know the hell as well as he does.

That night she never made it to bed, she felt asleep in Chuck's arms while he thought of what life had in store for them. It was not going to be easy, thought Chuck, but they had seen worst and were still there to tell it. Nothing would take Chuck Bass done for good, not even Blair Waldorf.

_**I made most of all this sorrow. I tried to brave this discontent, but now I'm through. I'm letting go of you. Unknown quotes **_


	2. You're not bringing me down

Serena listened to Chuck; he did not give her any option anyways. She had put on a beautiful red dress that matched her red lipstick and ruby purse, her high heels clicked on the floor elaborating the BSO of the dreams of many men.

As she was walking through the streets of New York, she knew what she had to do next: go to Blair's penthouse and gather her things, there was no way in hell she was staying with Blair and Dan being a couple. Chuck had told her she could come with him and Monkey until she figures out her life and she has take his offer. He was the person in the world who could better understand her right now.

What Serena did not expect tough was finding Blair Waldorf -excuse me, Grimaldi- with Dan Humphrey cuddling on the sofa. She should have called, left a note, send a mail, whatever. That was by far the most uncomfortable situation she had ever lived, the three of them stood silent as if opening their mouths could make it only worse.

Then Serena heard something in her head, at first she thought she was hallucinating because of the pain but she was just remembering. Chuck's voice echoed through her mind: "Then we'll have to let them go". She did not have a choice, she could not lie on her bed and cry herself to sleep every night so she stopped thinking and began walking then, by some mysterious mechanism she could not identify, her mouth opened.

"Do not stop for me lovebirds; I've just come to take my things out".

With those words, Serena took the stairs as Serena Van der Woodsen: a beautiful, strong and confident woman.

"I need to talk to her", Blair said to Dan who just nodded to the new love of his life.

In Serena's room with Blair and Serena:

"Do not you think you are acting a bit childish Serena?" Blair's tone was accusing.

Serena thought she had to be kidding. She dropped a shirt in her suitcase and turned to Blair with her hands on her hips.

"Childish?" Serena's voice portrayed the incredibility she was feeling.

"Like a fucking five years old Serena".

Serena was not an aggressive person, she did not like to bicker but that made it for her.

"Do you want to talk about childish Blair? Let us talk about it.

"Oh, I have found the prince of my life, I am so happy! I am going to be a princess!" Serena imitated Blair quiet well.

"But, oh my god, I love Chuck! He is the love of my life! Everybody knows that since I am sixteen but I am pregnant with Louis baby. What am I going to do? Oh, I know! I'll ditch the wedding and run away with you Chuck because we are unbreakable!"

Blair felt her anger rising up.

"Oh no! A car accident, Chuck will not make it! Oh, I know! I will pray to God! He listened to me but I promised to stay away from Chuck so I have to!"

Serena approached Blair and took her face in her hands.

"Chuck, I can't be with you baby but I will always, always love you! It's always going to be you!"

Serena talked with her voice again for a second.

"Then a week after…"

She took Blair's hands.

"Oh Dan, you are the love of my life! Chuck? Who's Chuck?"

"So no Blair, I do not think I'm being childish and if I am I can never get to your level! At least I can love the same guy for more than five minutes!"

Blair slapped Serena as she never had slapped anyone, not even Chuck Bass.

That is when two familiar men rushed into the room.

"Are you all right?" the deep velvet voice could only belong to the Chuck Bass.

"Yes, I am", answered Blair out of habit.

Chuck glared at her.

"Not you, her".

Chuck looked at Serena as if she was some fragile porcelain on the verge of being broken.

Blair gasped:

"She came here to insult me and you defend her?"

"Shut up Blair, the whole world does not revolve around you. She is the one hurting because of you, not the other way around".

Dan hugged Blair from behind.

"Do not talk to her like that", spat Humphrey.

Chuck snorted then began talking for him and the world.

"And now I receive order from the freaking lonely boy alias the frog of the princess Grimaldi's fairytale. What's wrong with the world lately?"

Chuck approached Dan, who was now in front of Blair, as the predator he really was.

"Look Humphrey, let's be clear here. I am Chuck Bass. I am the best schemer of this city, your girlfriend can tell you how good I am; not even she could win me at that game. Let's make a deal: you control your little princess and stay away from Serena and I don't ruin your pathetic life, got it?"

Chuck did not bother to wait for the answer; he did not care at all. Humphrey would deny it but he knew he had not other choice. He was not stupid enough to mess openly with Chuck Bass. At least, he hoped so for him. He took Serena's hand and walked to the door like the hurried and arrogant businessperson he was.

"We'll send someone to gather Serena's things later. Bye Grimaldi, take care of your froggy because those are fragile things. You never, some French could come and want to eat his ankles before the full transformation in prince charming is over!".

Chuck Bass got out without glancing at Blair not even once; Blair Waldorf was history and he needed to get used to it.

Serena stayed silent all the ride back to Chuck's home.

"How did you know I was there?", the blonde finally asked.

"Lily told me where you had gone and I thought that you could use a little help".

Serena answered with a tired but sincere: "Thank you, I did it".

"What are you thinking about S?"

Serena sighed. "She has been my best friend all of my life, I do not how to live without her".

Chuck stroked Serena's knee with his right hand.

"You'll figure it out, we will. I promise".

Before the car stopped, Chuck smiled and said: "You dressed nicely".

Serena smiled knowingly: "I said I didn't know how, I didn't say I wasn't going to do it".

It was not going to be easy but they were two and that had to count somewhere along the way.

As you can guess, I am fed up with Blair. She can love Dan but she cannot evolve in such a ridiculous way and drop Chuck in one minute for Dan without any logic explanation. The writers are just being ridiculous and do not get me started on Humphrey… I am not asking for any particular pair but just for a bit of coherence!

Review J


	3. It could be something else

"_**I thought I knew what love was until I met you.**_

_**At first I hated you, you were so arrogant and cocky, a real asshole. Then I began to know you and we became friends. **_

_**I was convinced you could not fall in love with a friend, now I realize how wrong I was. **_

_**I fell in love with you and it wasn't painful, the decisions were hard but the feeling? The feeling was fucking great.**_

_**Now I understand what true love is: true love is you knowing me because you are my friend as much as my lover. True love is you challenging me when I need to and taking my hand afterwards. **_

_**I was wrong, my favourite film lied. Loving you is not a war but a constant peace".**_

When Chuck arrived home that evening Serena was sitting at his window, absorbed by the New York's lights she loved so much.

"How are you doing Serena?"

Serena smiled in a way that was now reserved for Chuck: complicity was written all over it.

"Do you mind if we do a bit of deep talking tonight?"

Chuck sighed before making his way towards the window and sitting in front of her to gaze at New York.

"Is it necessary?"

Serena looked at him apologetically.

"You're the only one I can talk to in that way".

Chuck smiled at Serena. They had developed an understanding; he did not know exactly why, probably because they were in the same position right now. Chuck did not let many people in, in fact, he doubted that after Blair he would do it again but he was still glad to not go through all of that alone. However, he was angry that Serena had to go through all the heartbreak. She did not deserve it at all.

"Let's go then. Shoot".

"Does real love exist Chuck?"

Chuck chuckled, the question was impossible to answer. When the heck had their lives turn into an Oprah Winfrey's show?

"What do you mean by "true love"?"

Serena thought for a while before answering. She did not want to hurt Chuck.

"The one you see in the movies and read in the books. The one that conquers it all. The one that can never be destroyed, not even if the lovers want it".

Chuck closed his eyes.

"I have believed in it. I was never like Blair Chuck; I did not believe in prince charming and did not wait for it. Then Dan came along and he convinced me that fairytales were real. Even when it was over, I looked at you and Blair and was sure that you two had that kind of love".

Chuck chuckled at the irony of the situation.

"You two were my reason to believe then all of a sudden, when finally you are free to be together she just falls out of love with you."

Chuck sighed; those words still hurt him like hell.

"I do not now Serena. I also thought that we would be in love forever but obviously, I was wrong. Maybe true love is not as we think it is."

Serena looked at Chuck interested in his words.

"What do you mean?"

"We see those movies and think that love has to be crazy, passionate and tortuous. We think it has to last forever and it makes suffering look good, romantic.

Maybe it is not like that; it is possible that love could be easy and carefree, maybe it is about walking part of the way together and not about promising forever. True love could be the exact opposite of what we imagine it to be."

Serena looked towards the window again.

"That does not sound as great as the movies".

"Do you know how much Blair and I had hurt each other? How much suffering there has been between us Serena? Sometimes our love was more of a burden than anything else."

Serena looked at him.

"You love her".

Chuck sighed.

"I do, but if she has fallen out of love with me, I will do the same with her."

"You really are not going to fight for her this time Chuck?"

Chuck giggled.

"I hate her for choosing him. I was ready to let her go when Louis came into the picture but she would not let me. And for what Serena? For dumping me after everything for Lonely boy? I won't forgive that choice."

"That did not answer my question Chuck".

Chuck looked intently into Serena's eyes.

"No Serena, I am not going to fight for her. I am letting her go and this time I am doing it for me".

Serena looked at Chuck with sadness in her eyes.

"I thought Chuck and Blair would never end".

Chuck sighed deeply before gazing at the window.

"Well, we also thought the Rolling Stones would retire one day and look at them! They'll die on the road".

Serena chuckled. Chuck Bass was probably the most complex and interesting person she had ever met.

"It's not funny Chuck":

"It is life Serena; Blair and Chuck are over for good. This is the end. I do not know what I will do from now on, I do not know if I will ever love or be loved again but this is the end".

Serena took Chuck's hand in hers.

"Of course you will love and be loved again Chuck. The ends are beginnings and we are going to begin a new story where the mention of Blair and Dan names won't hurt us anymore. It will be just a memory of a time lost long ago".

Chuck looked at their hands intertwined and thought that maybe she was right; he would believe her on this one. They both sat there for hours, seeking comfort in the sight of New York and in each other.

"_**I am a survivor. **_

_**Life throws obstacles in my way and I overcome them. I do not waste time crying over it or pitying myself, I just overcome them.**_

_**You are my hardest obstacle but let me tell you one thing: if I have made it until here is because not even you can bring me down. **_

_**Do you want to destroy me? Go on and try, I will just overcome you".**_


	4. Magnetism

_Author's POV: _

Sometimes we are so blind by things and persons than we are unable to see what has been there since the very beginning. The principal cause of blindness is not the uncertainty but the obviousness; some things are so obvious that we are blinded by them in the same way we are blinded by the sun when he lights directly into our eyes.

Chuck was observing Serena from the corner of a room; it was his party but she was its star. In fact, Chuck had thrown the party for Serena; she was born to shine and she needed to remember it. Chuck knew very well the people like Serena because people like him were usually accompanied by them. He was the darkness itself, the son of the night and the king of the shadows. He knew the darkest secrets of the human soul and he was covered by the scars of that knowledge. He was attractive in the same way night was: mysterious, ambitious, dangerous, secretive, handsome and cold. Serena was the exact opposite, she was the sun itself. She was as beautiful as a summer day, as cheesy as it may sound, she was carefree and happy, magnetic. She had known some pretty dark things too, she was not an innocent and helpless girl at all but she simply did not care. Watching Serena's radiant smile and the crowd that had gathered around her Chuck remembered how things used to be before Blair and Dan, before everything that has turned them into the persons they are at the moment. Blair was the fighter because she had to work for everything while Serena was the centre of the world effortless. She was the sun so the earth, naturally, rotated around her.

He then thought that maybe the impossibility of his love story with Blair was linked to all of that. Blair had always wanted to turn the darkness in her into light; she wanted to be the sun too. She wanted to be happy and carefree, magnetic and radiant. She did not want the magnificence of the night but the shining of the day. He, on the other side, never wanted to be anything else than what he was. Chuck Bass knew he could never be the sun; he was condemned to darkness since his birth. His father did not want a son, he wanted an heir and he raised him as that. He couldn't be carefree; he had an empire to build. He belonged to darkness and he loved it, if Serena was magnetic, he was fascinating. Watching her from a distance he realized something that struck him, Serena VanderWoodsen was one of those people born to be happy and he found it outstanding. They understood each other because they complemented each other: she was the day, he was the night and none of them wanted to change that. Surprisingly enough, the light of the sun had ended up being the only true constant in Chuck's life.

Serena was surrounded by lot of people; some have been nice to her and some awful but, as always, she did not care. She was not one to hold grudges against people; she gave what she had to give, took what there was to be taken and left. That was life, she thought: things happen, you get hurt, you go on. Each day the night ends coming but each day the Sun shines again in the morning. People usually thought the day and the night were in a constant battle but she knew better, they had come to accept they needed each other to exist. They let the other be to be able to be them. People did not get that because everybody has expectations. "I love you as you are", my ass she thought! Yes, you love someone as he is for the first few months then you want more; you want different, you want to him to become your phantasm. Look at Dan, as much as he likes to claim it, he never accepted her as she was. She was too shiny, too posh, too rich, too carefree, and too happy. Deep down, Blair was easier to be with for him because she has more problems than her. She needed a man by her side to make her confident, she needed a daddy. Serena did not want to be educated; she just wanted to be loved for who she was.

She was not paying attention to any of the people she was talking to. She knew he was watching her and she wondered what he was thinking. He always looked as if he had a big and powerful secret, as if he knew the key to the human existence. He was not even twenty-five but he looked as a forty confident man. He was a magnet to her, always has been. He was as solid as she was aerial. He was his rock and she was his sunshine. She knew Blair and Dan were going to walk in at any moment and she was nervous about it in the morning but not anymore. There was no fear in her because he had thrown this party for her, they had each other and the way he was watching her make her feel so incredibly powerful. She understood Blair's behaviour towards him now: his eyes held so much power than those of any other man. She had never felt more beautiful, never more confident, and never more luminous. He knew who she was and he did not try to change her but he did not accept her either, he did something better: he encouraged her to be more and more herself. In exchange Serena promised herself to never judge him. She knew how dark he was and how bad he could be but she did not care because she also knew how hard it was to be him. She then thought that if they had to confront Blair and Dan they would do it together so she excused herself and made her way towards him.

Lily was still accepting her break up with Rufus; she hated to admit that her mother was somehow right. She loved Rufus and could live with him in Manhattan but Brooklyn? He had said he felt insulted, it was not her intention. She simply did not belong there. She was Lily Van der Woodsen and, as much as she had wanted to deny it, it was something she could not change. Her eyes fell upon Chuck and Serena; at least they were going to take it well. Since the Dan and Blair affaire they did not feel very comfortable about Rufus. She could not blame it. She suddenly realized how magnificent they look: her golden dress clashed totally with his completely black suit. She was the light itself, he was the darkness and together they just looked natural. She made many mistakes in her life but she has done good work with those two. The image of Bart popped in her head: she imagined how pride he would feel if he could see his son right now, looking as the finest predator. Lily knew Bart had countless flaws but, even if he did not show it, he loved his son deeply. Then she thought that, strangely enough, Chuck and Serena looked like an improved version of them. Then she saw Blair and Dan walking in the room and hoped that her two beautiful children would survive this as they had survive everything else.

Serena looked at Chuck telling him she was perfectly fine and took his arm in hers. Chuck had been taking care of her lately but deep down she knew that all of this was even harder for him. She did not miss the surprised look on Blair's face when she acknowledged how close her and Chuck were, she enjoyed it a lot. Dan was the first to speak and Serena rolled her eyes. Here he goes again with his adult act, he was so predictable.

"Chuck, your party is really nice".

Oh god, thought Chuck: how much lame he can get?

"Thank you Humphrey, I am glad you like it".

Blair was throwing a murderous look at Serena; it looked like this was a cat fight. Serena had stopped competing long ago, she always won so she stopped playing to make Blair happy but that was over, at least for tonight.

"Are you not going to yell at me like the child you are Serena?"

Chuck looked expectantly at Serena while Dan pulled discreetly on Blair's arm indicating to her she had gone too far.

Serena tightened her grip on Chuck and smiled her 1000 KW smile before answering in the sweetest tone she could manage.

"Oh no dear, I have gotten over you! You know, children get over things very easily, especially when they are not worthy pinning over for more than a few days".

Blair did her best to stay as still as a statue and smiled.

"So we are good now?"

Serena wanted to punch her in the face; did she really think it was going to be that easy? Chuck rolled his eyes, what had they done to the original Blair?

"No, we are not good. As I told you, we are over. You and Dan found love and that is wonderful. I hope he loves you enough to compensate the loose of your three childhood friends. I am not going to insult you or yell at you because I do not care anymore. So, if you excuse me, we are going to stop wasting our time with such insignificant beings because Chuck and I have a party to host. Enjoy!" and with the biggest smile ever seen in the Upper East Side, Serena walked away taking Chuck with her while Blair contemplated her with hatred written all over her face.

Chuck and Serena stumbled in Chuck's balcony laughing; they were greeted by a very happy Monkey. Serena loved that dog and Chuck adored her for that. When they had caught their breaths, Chuck looked at Serena.

"That was fucking awesome!"

They broke in laughter again.

"Yeah well, I was so tired of being the good passive victim. Fuck them both!"

Monkey barked enthusiastically at that while Serena caressed him.

"Oh yeah huh, you agree too. You are such a good boy".

Monkey preferred Serena to Blair since he had noticed that with the blond around him his master was happier than before and to Monkey Chuck's happiness was its number one priority.

"We should go back to the party", said Serena while looking out at the horizon.

"Screw the party, I love this view".

Serena smiled, she did too.

"Why do you love the New York's skyscrapers so much Chuck?"

"They look so powerful always rising above everything else but they could scroll down so easily. What I love the most about them though is the view they give you".

Serena smiled at his words; he was like her own skyscraper. She did not know what took over her; it could have been the moon shining over their heads, the rush from her conversation with Blair or the need to forget about a love that was still deep in her chest. It could have been all those things together but she knew better than that; magnetism was a physic force and not even Serena Van Der Woodsen or Chuck Bass could stop it. They had delayed it for years but, in the end, the universe would impose its laws. Serena Van Der Woodsen obeyed those laws and leaned until her lips were on his.

_Author's POV:_

But you can only be blind for a limited amount of time. Sooner or later, everything reveals itself and once you have recognized the existence of something obvious, there is no turning back. You cannot look at anywhere else".

What did you think of that? I can just tell you it has just started. I know a lot of people do not like Chuck and Serena as a couple but I do not really see why. Don't worry though; they are very far of becoming one yet.

I am looking for a beta reader for this story so if one of you feels up to it, let me know!

Cheers


	5. Your lips

"And it doesn't matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night going over every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell for that brief moment you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he'll see the light and show up at your door. And after all that, however long all that may be, you'll go somewhere new. And you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And little pieces of your soul will finally come back. And all that fuzzy stuff, those years of your life that you wasted, that will eventually begin to fade."

- The Holiday

Chuck could not bring himself to think why she had kissed him; he was too busy repeating in his head over and over that her lips should not have felt that good. She was his step-sister, she was Dan's ex, Nate's ex, Blair's ex best friend and their lips together should not have made any sense.

Let's face it: in the Upper East Side, everybody had fucked together, everybody had been involved together one way or another, that's why Gossip Girl was so powerful. Everybody but them. They were the impossible pairing, the _"never going to happen"_ couple, they were Chuck and Serena and between them there had always been room for only one feeling: a sick fascination. Of course he had dreamt of fucking her brains out when she had been the golden girl and he the sexual bastard of town but he had wanted to fuck anybody then. He didn't do shiny happy girls and she didn't do dark outrageous bastards. So what the hell were they doing then? Maybe it was because she wasn't as shiny as a few years ago or maybe he wasn't that outrageous anymore.

The thing is that, against all odds, their lips felt freaking awesome together. So instead of stopping the kiss, he deepened it because for the first time in weeks he wasn't thinking about Blair or his family problems but just about the delicious feeling of her soft yet demanding lips on his own.

What the hell was she doing? She just had kissed Chuck Bass! Even worse, she was still kissing him. He asked for entrance and she gladly accepted him, she thought their tongues were going to battle mercilessly but it was nothing like that, they were executing a sensual dance, perfectly encompassed together. It felt as if their mouths and tongues had been doing this for years although they had never touched each other. That was what scared the more Serena: it felt natural. The one thing everybody knew would never happen felt natural. Serena thought how a few years ago this moment would have meant the lowest point of her existence and how now it didn't mean that at all. Had they changed that much or had the world around them? Maybe both.

Her arms found their way to his neck and her right hand ended up in his luxurious dark hair. He was holding her tight against his chest, his arms encircling her as a snake while her long golden hair was falling over them. There was nothing really sexual there: his hands stayed on her waist and hers behind his neck, there was no groping, no dry humping, just a slow and musical kiss and yet Serena could have sworn it was the most erotic moment of her life. They were kind of floating, the world still existed but it did not matter anymore. Not even Dan and Blair mattered, not the pain, not the loneliness, nothing really did anymore but their mouths dancing as if they had found the partner they were made for.

But Chuck and Serena were still human and the need to breath broke their embrace. They looked at each other, panting. This was a new feeling for them: it had not been earth-shattering, it had not been a tango and it had definitely not been like in a fairytale. It had been slow, calm, natural, easy and even peaceful. The kiss had not worked as an eruption in a volcano but as the long, calm and hypnotic movement of the Nile. The moment was gone and what followed wasn't cliché at all because they were not cliché, never have been. She was no princess, he was no hero and there was no movie.

So there was no confession of undying love since both were aware they were in love with other persons. There was no asking for explanations because, honestly, they didn't think there was a reason for their kiss and if there was it didn't really matter anymore. There was no talk about the kiss because both knew perfect they had felt the exact same thing. There were not reproaches either. The world was complicated; they were complicated and full of non sense. But it didn't matter, when you are Chuck Bass and Serena Vanderwoodsen you have known for a long time that your existence is way too complicated to make sense anymore.

So he just took her hand in his, she answered with a smile and he walked her to his bed. They both slipped under the covers and he held her tight. No words were exchanged. They both knew that tomorrow they would wake up with all of their problems still there but that night they would sleep peacefully, unaware of the world and its tribulations.

"But sometimes what starts as a fling, can lead to the real thing."

- Gossip Girl

Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews! What did you think of this short but important chapter? The next will be longer and the plot will get more complicated with more characters involved. Excited? Cheers!


	6. We're easy

The next few weeks had been easy, Chuck and Serena had spent almost all of their time together. Blair and Dan were on a trip somewhere in Europe, Lily was back to being a free woman while Nate was doing… whatever Nate does usually.

They have not talked about the kiss but they have kept kissing. At first they had avoided it but then it came naturally to them : a little peck, then something more, then before they knew it it had become something totally usual for them. However, Chuck Bass and Serena VanDerWoodsen had not gone any further yet. Their relationship was made of the shy smiles and mysterious glances two people that share a secret give each other.

Which secret did they share ? They had discovered life could be easy. Funny, isn't it ? Two kids with everything from the day they were born : fortune, beauty, the world at their feet… had never known until now that life could be easy. It was the little gestures : taking each other hand, knowing that you had someone at the end of the day to keep you going in this mad world, knowing that you were not alone anymore. There were no fights, no pretending and no expectations. They never talked about Dan and Blair anymore, since they decided to let them go it had been a tabu subject.

To be honest, the more the days went on, the less Serena and Chuck thought about their ex-lovers. The word « happiness » was hanging on the tip of their tongues but they knew better than to say it outloud. They didn't want to risk thinking it, afraid it would disappear in the air right away. The gods, unhappy that some people had tried to equal them, had cast upon their race a punishment : they'd have everything to be happy but could never actually be it. So Chuck and Serena were carefull, expecting something bad to happen around the corner. But little by little the hope was growing in them : maybe they had paid their part and happiness was finally availaible.

When Chuck arrived that night there was nothing more natural to Serena than to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him. If somebody had told her, a few years ago, she was going to end up playing house with Chuck Bass of all people she would have laughed endlessly. But there she was, and she couldn't feel better about it. Now that they had gone there, she couldn't comprehend how they did not see it sooner.

« What a wonderful way to get home : a beautiful blond's kiss and Monkey's love. I'm beginning to feel like in an ABC show. »

Serena chuckled while Chuck said hello to Monkey who had missed him dearly.

« And is that a good or a bad thing ? »

« It's a weird good thing . We have to talk Serena. »

Suddenly she was terrified, wasn't he as comfortables as she was ? Of cours he wasn't, he's Chuck Bass ! Too much light for him, way too much light.

« Why are you looking at me like I just broke your favorite toy ? »

Serena started talking while pacing around the room.

« I get it, I really understand, you don't want this to keep going. »

Chuck had to laugh at that one. The girl was crazy.

« Quit the opposit in fact, would you sit down and let me talk before freaking out ? »

Serena, relieved, sat down. Why had she felt so much fear ? Had Chuck become that important to her ? Maybe she should be the one running away.

« I don't know what exactly it's going on with us and I don't need to label it. Bass industries ball is coming up and as the CEO, I am expected to bring someone ».

Chuck took a deep breath, why was this so nerve breaking ?

« I know this sounds crazy and we're nowhere near having forgotten Blair and Dan but I'd like you to come. And I'd like to be able to show the affection I have for you in public, if that's okay for you. Gossip Girl is going to give the news at any moment now anyways. »

Chuck had thought a lot about it before saying it outloud. He knew what he was asking for and it scared the hell out of him. Life had thaught him you have to take the few chances that pass by, you never know if another one is coming your way. This was unexpected but it felt right, nobody had ever brought him as much peace as Serena had.

« I would love to. »

And like that, easily, Chuch Bass and Serena VanderWoodsen were going public.


	7. Night and day by your side

**Hello my dear readers. I know I've been very erratic with this story and I apologize for it. Since I get reviews that are so beautiful to read, i promise to update it on a more regular basis and to write it until the very end. Please, keep telling me how you feel about this story and this chapter. **

"_Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it." _

_Mark Twain_

_At Lily's house:_

As the Bass Industries ball approached, Serena felt more and more nervous each minute. Everybody would be there, the Upper East Side was coming for a show and Chuck and her would become the starts of it. Gossip girl, by some miracle, didn't know. The truth was Serena and Chuck had been extra careful about the whole thing, their love –or whatever it was for that matter- was only shared into the safe space of what had became their home, sweet home. Not even Lily knew and Serena could already imagine the shock, anger and deception she would feel. Despite her own curriculum, Serena's mom accorded nowadays a great importance to New York's elite's opinion. Should she tell it to her mom first? And what would she say: "Hey mom, I have something going on with Chuck but I don't know what it exactly is." Then Dan and Blair would probably be there too, she could imagine their reaction. Dan would be as condescending as he could get telling her how disappointing it was to see her with someone like Chuck Bass, but Blair's reaction would be terribly worst. In her mind Chuck was the only thing Serena had never had over her, his love made her unique. She would feel jealous, betrayed and so vulgar; she would finally realize what Serena has known all along: she had let go the best thing that had ever happened to her. Yes, Chuck had made some horrible things to Blair but so was true the other way around. He loved her as she was the only woman who had ever walked on earth and Serena found herself thinking if it would be possible for him to love her that way someday. The depth of her feelings, growing everyday, were beginning to deeply scare her but she had made the decision to not run away this time.

The truth was Serena wasn't so sure it was a great idea to go public at the ball. They didn't even know what they were, how can you go public without knowing that? GG would be constantly on them, they would be the exposed to all the evil of the Upper East Side. It scared Serena to think how much harm they could do them. The problem was Serena has never been a logical person; she didn't give explanations for her actions. She had never justified herself; she had been whatever she wanted to be or could be in that moment. Serena VanDerWoodsen wasn't Blair Waldorf, she didn't need a perfect image; she didn't care. Moreover, Serena was very curious about what it would feel like to be able to grab Chuck's hand in public kiss him, claim him as his when some expansive skank tried to steal it from her. She wanted to know how it felt to be such a powerful couple, she wanted to feel everyone's eyes on them and be able to send them all to hell. She wanted to go public with Chuck within their terms and rules, and the Upper East Side would have live with it.

The door opening brought her back to reality; sad and boring reality. At the moment she was at her mother's house talking about dresses and fabrics.

"Excuse me Serena, I had to take that call. It was Rufus babbling about I don't know what."

Lily extended her arm through the table to grab, tenderly, her daughter's hand.

"I know the whole Dan and Blair thing has been hard on you Serena but, believe me, they did you a great favor."

Serena smiled sweetly at her mother, maybe she was right.

"Dan Humphrey is not the man you need, I don't want you to repeat my mistakes. You need a tough man Serena, a powerful one, someone who's on the same level as you."

Serena had to smile at the irony of the conversation; her mother was describing Chuck Bass. It was such a shame that the next day she would think so differently.

"Sure mom, I think you're right."

"Maybe you have already found it. I haven't seen you in two weeks and you have a certain glow darling."

Was it that obvious? She should see her with Chuck around, she would know the second she saw them.

"Not yet but I've been feeling better about the whole Dan and Blair thing. Maybe it was life's way to tell me she had something way better for me than Dan."

The truth would be avalaible tomorrow; there was no need to advance her death sentence one day.

"I'm proud of you Serena, you've come a long way these last years. You're much stronger."

Serena smiled knowing that she was right. She thought back about the messed up girl she had been. She was just a teenager with many problems and no idea of how to deal with them so she drank them away, she sexed them away; she wasn't that different from Chuck even then. She had learned to confront her problems, now she didn't take trains to get away from something but to get at something.

_At Chuck's office:_

A knock on the door preceded Blair's entering in Chuck's office.

"How the hell did you come up here?"

"They know me."

Chuck sighed; his team was too much permissive for his taste.

"And to what do I owe this pain in the ass Blair?"

Blair approached his desk before sitting on the couch next to it.

"Still sour Chuck?"

He had to laugh at that one.

"That would make you so happy, wouldn't it?"

"You have such a poor idea of me."

"Just the one you've given me Miss Waldorf soon to be Miss Humphrey. He may be a writer now but his name still rings so Brooklyneesh."

"Stop being so jealous Bass."

"Darling, if there is someone on earth I can be jealous of I can assure you it is not lonely boy. What do you want Blair, I don't have all day."

"I wanted to see how you're doing. That I'm not in love with you anymore doesn't mean I don't love you."

Oh god, why she had to come? He wasn't cut off for this kind of dialogue.

"I'm fine Blair, I don't intend on going on a self-destruction trip because of your love story with Dan."

He probably would have though, if Serena didn't exist he would have.

"That's good to hear."

Chuck could feel Blair's frustration in her voice; she wanted to see him totally broken over her even if she wouldn't admit it. She had broken him but he had to go on, she didn't give him any other choice, did she?

"So it's okay with you if I go to the Bass industry's ball with Dan? It's the biggest event of the year up now and a great place to make our first real appearance as a couple in the Upper East Side scene."

She had some balls; he had to admit that. This kind of things made him question deep inside himself if Blair was with Humphrey just to see him fight for her. Well, they wouldn't be the only ones to present themselves as a coupe but, by now, she didn't need to know that.

"There is no problem Blair, you can choose your ball partner as much as you can choose your boyfriend."

"Thank you, I appreciate your maturity about this. I'm glad you don't hold it against me."

"I've never said that, of course I hold it against you. We've done some horrible things to each other in the past but I thought we were loyal with each other."

"Loyal? Like you never cheated on me Chuck or, worst, sold me to your evil brother."

Chuck stopped writing on his keypad and looked deeply into Blair's eyes with his fiercest look.

"Loyal Blair. We can be horrible at each other, we can cheat, we can lie, we can fuck it up as bas as we want but we never fall out of love with each other. We can marry other people but fall in love with them. That was the deal, you broke it, I survived. End of the story but don't think for a single moment I don't despise your betrayal every breath I take."

The passion into Chuck's eyes made Blair realize, for the first time, that what she had done could be irreversible; but she was in love with Humphrey so she didn't care, right?

"I hope you enjoy the ball tomorrow Blair, we'll see you and lonely boy there. Now would be the appropriate time for leaving, this is my work place and it's a serious one. "

Blair wanted badly to ask what he meant by "we" but she knew better than to push it when Chuck was in that kind of mood.

_At Chuck's home:_

Chuck smiled surprised seeing Serena at home, his workday had been so long.

"I thought you'd be at you Lily's tonight?"

"Yes but we had lunch instead, I wanted to have dinner with you."

Chuck pecked her on the lips and smiled at her.

"Where's Monkey?"

"At my mom's. Don't worry; I've threatened her life. I wanted some time just for us before everything goes crazy tomorrow."

He took her by the waist before talking; the proximity was now the only natural state between them.

"Are you having second thoughts?"

It was in that kind of moments when Serena could see the vulnerable little boy that still lived within Chuck. He had not felt loved and he was still scaring about not being loved. He had such a hard time opening himself to others, he was really afraid of rejection and Serena knew Blair's betrayal with Dan hadn't helped lately. She felt in her belly the need to reassure him, to tell him everything would be all right because she wouldn't leave his side.

"I would lie to you if I said I wasn't scared but I really want to do it. Plus, I don't really have a choice."

"Why is that?"

"Because I can't really keep my hands off from you anymore."

Chuck smiled before capturing her plump lips with his. She tasted like strawberries and vanilla, she tasted like sun and long summer days, she tasted like barbeques with friends, sunbathing and white dresses running on green grass. He didn't really like those things but he loved to taste them on her.

Her hands soon lost in his dark and smooth hair while his arms divided between her neck dressed with long blond hair and her perfect waist. Their tongues didn't battle anymore; they just danced at the same tempo without effort. Serena's hands descended and she soon found herself taking off his expensive shirt. He let her do as she pleased while he kept losing himself in her mouth and touch. The pressure of directing Bass industries, Blair's visit, the world's problems... all long forgotten in her arms. Serena's hands now roamed freely Chuck's torso, her lips became more and more demanding. Feeling the blood cursing though its veins Chuck separated their lips enough to speak for a few seconds. Looking into her eyes, full of light eyes, he whispered:

"Do you really want this? Because I won't be able to stop Serena, we'll never be able to go backwards after this."

Serena knew everything he was implying; they could still bury what they have had those last weeks, they could put it behind them and never talk about it anymore. It would be hard but it was still possible. This, however, was the ultimate border. There would be not returning from this. Did she want to take the step? It was an important decision, she didn't need to rush it and she hadn't. It had been weeks, entire nights dreaming about his hands on her as he was sleeping right next to her. She knew what she wanted and she was ready to face the consequences that would come.

She looked deeply into his dark eyes, eyes so full of danger and promises of forbidden territories mortals would kill to explore. She knew he needed that last word for reassurance before she could get lost forever into his dark pools of night.

"I've never wanted someone as much as I want you right now. I know it sounds cliché but I have a physical ache to have you. I don't care if there's no turning back Chuck because I don't want it. What about you, are you sure?"

For only answer she got a deep and passionate kiss. She recognized that kiss, it was the kiss of a fourteen years old boy who didn't know how to talk, the kiss of someone who felt but didn't know yet what to do with it or how to express it. She valued that kiss for what it was, a true treasure that, despite the number of women Chuck had kissed over the years, the had only given to her and another girl. She promised herself then and there that she would never do anything to break the vulnerability he had offered her. She answered back the only way he could truly comprehend, with the same passion and depth in the touch.

Soon enough they were in Chuck's room, sharing one of the most beautiful experiences they would ever share. It wasn't rushed or harsh, it was almost sacred. He slowly took off her dress without taking his eyes off of her for a single second. At first Serena thought she could never hold the intensity of his eyes on her but it wasn't uncomfortable. She felt sexy, empowered by his eyes, a goddess cherished by a god. Once they were both naked they simply made love. They worshipped each other's through their bodies in a slow and sensual dance. He spent extra time kissing the big freckle she had on the lower part of the belly, the freckle he knew she was so ashamed of as a teenager. They had looked into each other's eyes all the way until they had both collapsed at the same time embracing each other.

They both felt asleep, spent and peaceful, at that exact time when the day and the night collides for a single moment while the moon and the sun exchange the lines of an impossible love story that can be even if it's only for a few precious seconds.

"_Making love, she'd always believed, was more than simply a pleasurable act between two people. It encompassed all that a couple was supposed to share: trust & commitement, hopes & dreams, a promise to make it through whatever the future might bring_."

Nicholas Sparks.

**Are Chuck and Serena right to go public at the ball? Is Chuck really over Blair? What did you think about the love scene?**

**The big ball is next chapter and, let me tell you, it's going to be epic. **


	8. The ball

_Hello! I know, I suck. I told you I would update this forever ago and I never did. This is an extra long chapter to make it up to you_

_Enjoy and review, I love your reviews! :)_

"**You realize that our mistrust of the future makes it hard to give up the past." **

― **Chuck Palahniuk, **_**Survivor**_

**Chuck and Serena's apartment:**

Serena stared at the reflection her mirror drew. She was satisfied with what she saw. For their crucial evening Serena had selected a long dress with a mermaid shape, the color was an intense gold with some sparkles that underlined her long, lightly curled and free hair. She had complemented it with lapis lazuli earrings and necklace that underlined the blue of her eyes. Her Jimmy Cho's were as good as you can fin them and a delicate clock bracelet went around her tiny wrist. Her make up was very light, trying to portray a nude beauty kind of look. She was waiting patiently for Chuck as he had been working all day. Their big moment had come and she knew it wouldn't be a fun one but, after last night, she didn't really care. A soft whistle behind her interrupted her thoughts.

"There she is, the most beautiful girl of the Upper East Side. Be careful, you're going to blind them with so much light."

Serena turned around to see a dashing Chuck looking at her. Tonight he hadn't chosen some kind of extrambotic fabric as he usually does; he had gone for an all black look. Black pants, black shirt, black jacket with no tie or anything. His black hair had been styled in a messy way with gel and his eyes looked as feline as ever, the black pools he had for eyes were absorbing Serena's light. She found herself drowning in that man, she had never be one for black but she had never desired a man as much as she did now. He screamed power, he screamed sex, he screamed depth and no one would ever take her back to the good way; if hell had that kind of creature, she'll gladly take residence down there.

"Says the most irresistible bachelor of the Upper East Side."

Chuck smiled, a true smile; not a smirk, not a wicked invitation but a smile.

"Well, I won't be a bachelor for long, will I?"

Chuck approached Serena as he was walking on silk and took her hand in his to reassure her.

"You can still back off you know."

"I'd never be able to back off from you."

Electricity went through them as their eyes communicated with each other. "I am by your side", "Don't worry", "I am sure of this", "I want this", "We're stronger than them" and, over all, "You'll never be alone again as long as I breathe." All the things they craved to say but couldn't say, didn't know how to say, didn't have time to say them, couldn't find words powerful enough to portray them. This thing they had, thought Chuck, was starting to look a lot like love.

He kissed her lightly on the lips in order not to ruin her makeup, and lead her outside their apartment towards the limo that was waiting for them.

**At the ball:**

"Blair Waldorf and lonely boy make their first official appearance as a couple on the Upper East Side scene. As much as we love the Brooklyn intellectual touch Blair, we have to say it doesn't come off as powerful as Chair.

XOXO, Gossip Girl."

Blair stuffed her phone in her bag. They were perfect. She was wearing a beautiful red dress that fell to her feet, her chestnut hair was arranged in an elegant chignon and her light makeup underlined her ruby lips while white pearls decorated her neck. Dan had made an effort, his classical smoking looked very good on him and they made a beautiful couple. Her mother had congratulated them but, Blair could feel, something was off as she did. Dan was a good boy, a smart and kind boy who would support her in her career. Her mother should be happy, all the Upper East Side should be happy. Instead, the only thing she heard all day long is "Your love for Chuck...", "Chair was so much more...", "How could you? It was true love." She couldn't take it anymore. What did people know anyway? Chuck and her hurt each other, that's the only thing they did. They are true self-destructive people who are a danger to each other. Why couldn't anybody see it?

"Baby, don't care about what Gossip Girl says. We're happy together."

Blair looked at her boyfriend and smiled, he was right. He should stop calling her baby nevertheless, it sounded so rural middle class America. Chuck always called her darling, dear, Waldorf but baby? Never would he call her baby. But this wasn't Chuck Bass, it was Dan Humphrey and he was America middle class. Blair sighed and swore to herself to not think about Chuck anymore. That was until she heard her boyfriend cursing.

"What the hell..."

When Blair looked in the same direction as him she went through shock shell. Chuck Bass and Serena Van der Woodsen descending the stairs together, their arms intertwined, exchanging longing looks and shy smiles. For the longest part of her life Blair had thought feared seeing Nate and Serena, she had dreaded that image as if it was hell came true. Now she knew better because this one hurt the hell of a lot more.

Whispers were heard each step they took, then the phones in the room started to ring.

"COUPLE ALERT. Chuck Bass and Serena Van der Woodsen. Where do I begin? This has to be the most powerful couple ever. I'll be on it fellows.

XOXO, Gossip Girl."

Chuck snorted at the message and, after what felt like an eternity; they finally arrived at the end of the stairs. A furious Lily and an amused Jack greeted them.

"I have to admit nephew, you know how to choose your women."

If only Chuck could wipe off that stupid smirk of his.

"Tell me it's not what I'm thinking. Serena, tell me!"

"Chuck and I, we're a couple mom."

Lily began to laugh hysterically. It couldn't be true, this couldn't happen to her.

"You are siblings."

"We don't share the same blood mom."

"You hated each other! You were disgusted by him not so many years ago!"

"Then we became siblings and learned to know each other. Look, I'm not going to justify myself mother, I don't know how we arrived at this place but we did."

"I swear to god..."

Chuck dropped Serena's arm and stood just a step away from Lily.

"Enough. This is a Bass Industries' ball. It's a work event so I am not going to let you make a scandal. I am deeply sorry this new are so unsettling to you but you'll have to behave as the adult you are until the ball is over then you can shriek at us as much as you like."

"This is a betrayal Chuck. I loved you like my own son, like no one has ever done and you pay me like that."

Serena knew how hurtful those words were to Chuck. She had to stop it.

"Enough mom, let's go somewhere more private then we'll talk."

Without giving her mother the chance to argue, Serena left in direction to the balcony with Lily following her close behind.

Chuck sighed, that was the worst beginning they could have had.

"We have work, move on."

For once in his life he knew she had to listen to Jack and he did so.

**With Lily and Serena:**

"How could you?"

"How could I what mom? I am not the one who broke up with the man she loved because he lives in Brooklyn. I am not the one who married Bart because he was a powerful man."

Lily's hand landed painfully on Serena's cheek.

"Be as mad as you want mom, I didn't do anything bad and I'm not going to apologize for it."

"End it right now Serena."

"Never."

"Do you have any idea how much this can hurt our image?"

Serena snorted angrily at that.

"Our image? Your image mom, your image is the only thing that had ever mattered to you!"

"Oh shut up! It's not like you're in love with him. I get it Serena: he was hurt because of Blair, you were hurt because of Dan and you fell into each other arms. Pretty conventional darling."

"Maybe it did begin like that but it's way more now."

"Don't tell me you love him Serena."

"Do you know what mom? I think I do. He is everything I'm supposed not to be attracted to but I am. He allows me to be myself unlike Dan who never wholly accepted me, he makes me laugh and he makes me feel secure. I have a place to call home when he's in it. It sounds a lot alike love, doesn't it?"

Lily sighed.

"My poor child. Then I'm more sorry for you than I am for me."

Lilly approached Serena and put a hand on the same cheek she had beat before.

"Serena, do you really think he will ever love you as he loves Blair? You don't destroy that kind of love darling. Doesn't matter how much he wants to, doesn't matter how much he could care for you, he'll never look at you like he looks at her."

Serena knew that what her mother was saying could be right and it scared her to no end but she couldn't go back now, she had made a bet on Chuck Bass and she'd have to fight through the game.

"I'm aware it's a strong possibility mom, but I am going to do everything I can to make it happen."

And the anger in Lily's eyes was replaced with something along the lines of tenderness and compassion. Lily took Serena into her arms and whispered in her ear:

"Don't count on me for this Serena but know that you can come when he breaks your heart."

Then Lily left her in the cold wind of New York, Serena stood there alone and wondering if she had made a mistake.

**On the rooftop:**

"I've always known where to find you."

Blair's voice forced Chuck to turn around.

"I'd thought maybe we could skip this part."

Blair smiled.

"Is it to hurt me? Is this your own revenge?"

Chuck snorted.

"I'm sorry to disappoint Blair but not all my world revolves around you."

"It's hard to believe when I break your heart and you go running to the arms of the person that would hurt me the most."

"Oh yeah? And why does it hurt you Blair? I thought you were out of love with me and happy with lonely boy. What the hell are you doing here?"

Blair sighed and let her purse fall to the floor.

"I've just realized I'm wearing red which is your favorite color, and those are the earrings you gave to me last Christmas. I am happy with Dan. So I don't know why I'm wearing those things or why I'm here."

Chuck sighed.

"Go back to lonely boy Waldorf."

"Nothing has never hurt me more in my whole life Chuck. Tonight I've realized I could loose you for real, maybe I've already lost you. And I don't know if it's because I'm territorial or because of something more."

"I'm pleading Blair, don't do this."

Blair took a couple of steps forward and looked at him right in the eyes.

"Are you in love with her?"

"I don't know, I feel something strong, that's for sure."

"Are you out of love with me?"

Chuck saw reflected in her honey chocolate pools everything they had gone through, since that fateful night in the limo to her "I'm not in love with you anymore" line. No line has ever devastated him like that one.

"You already know the answer to that. Anyway, you were the one to tell me you weren't in love with me anymore."

"You know how much of a liar I can be Chuck."

"This is not fair Blair."

Blair took his face in her hands and whispered:

"Nothing is fair in love and war."

She kissed him lightly on the lips and they didn't know what it meant.

Back on the balcony:

"Chuck Bass. I would never have thought you'd stood so low Serena."

Serena chuckled.

"You're one to talk Dan. You've spent years stating how superior to all of us you are and you've ended up with Queen B, anyone can see that deep down the only thing you want is to be one of us."

It was Dan's turn to chuckle now.

"Blair and Chuck are not the same and you know it."

"Oh, really? That's what you tell yourself to go to sleep Dan? Blair is as scheming and immoral as Chuck is, they've been a team for years, they've been a couple for years."

"It's not a good idea Serena."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to know how I go to sleep each night? Wondering. Some days I lie to myself just fine but some nights the truth just comes out and I wonder. I wonder how many days will she need to realize her true love is Chuck, I wonder how much time I've got left to live in this fantasy."

Serena looked away, she was getting tired of the conversation.

"It was the same with you, I lived with the fear of the day you would leave me for the Upper East Side."

Serena smiled at Dan before answering:

"It's so funny in the end you were the one to leave me for the Upper East Side, isn't?"

With those words Serena left Dan on the balcony, into the chilly air, thinking about how he and Chuck had ended up sharing the women of their lives.

**Back inside the building, with Jack and Barbara**

"Our son seems to have become a true man. It's incredible you and your brother didn't mess him up."

Jack had to laugh at that one.

"Oh believe me, he is pretty messed up."

"He's stronger than us."

Jack turned around to face Barbara and looked surprise seeing the regret that washed over her.

"Why do you say that? You've build up a pretty good life."

"Don't you ever think about all the damage we've made to that boy? We abandoned him, we gave him up to your brother who has proved to be Satan's reincarnation, he was told his mother was dead because of him."

Jack sighed; here we go again he thought, women and feelings.

"He's not our son. We were fucking, you got pregnant and we never saw him again. He's nothing to us."

"That's why you don't have any problem ruining his life? You fucked up his relationship with the brunette and now you want to take the company from him."

"I want to take the company from him to protect him. You know why."

"Don't you ever wonder what would have happened if we had kept him?"

Jack looked down for a moment.

"It's a useless thing to do Barbara."

"We did love each other Jack, we could have love him too."

"We were young and they had great plans for us. It was the best thing to do."

Barbara stood up and grabbed her purse. On her way to the exit she added:

"For whom Jack, him? I don't think so."

Then she left the parlor without noticing the tall and beautiful blonde who had been listening through the door.

Serena couldn't believe her ears. It couldn't be possible. It had to be a joke. Jack was Chuck's father? Chuck's mother was alive and in the same building as her son? Serena made a sprint towards the bathroom, evil was very present in the Upper East Side but she had to throw up.

**At the ball:**

"Chuck."

Chuck turned around to see lonely boy standing in front of him. He sighed, this had to be the last awkward meeting of the day.

"Humphrey, to what do I own the displeasure of talking to you?"

"Don't worry Chuck, it pleases me as much as it please you."

"What do you want?"

"You and Serena?"

"Yes, it looks like this autumn is about surprise couples."

"Is this a revenge?"

"And there it is! I finally found the thing you and Blair have in common, your egos are so big you think the world revolves around you. No Humphrey, I'm not dating Serena because of revenge."

"Maybe she is dating you because of revenge."

Chuck smirked devilishly.

"It's always a possibility although I highly doubt it. Look Humphrey, I already told you this some weeks ago but, for your sake, I will repeat myself: don't dare to hurt her anymore than you already have."

Dan smiled.

"I think now you're the one you should tell that to. Try to not mess up Blair neither if you can."

Then Dan left the room, wondering how on earth two girls could fell for two persons as different as them.

**Outside the building:**

"Look who's here, the attention whore."

Serena turned around to see Blair looking at her.

"Excuse me?"

"You couldn't let me have the spotlight right? You had to do something bigger than Dan and I first appearance as a couple."

Serena still felt sick at the pit of her stomach.

"Really Blair? You can take your freaking spotlight and fuck him all night long. I never wanted it."

"True. That is what has always been most frustrating about it, that you didn't even need to make the effort. The spotlight was always yours but Chuck, Chuck isn't Serena."

Serena had to snort at that.

"Jealous much Blair?"

Blair laughed in an exaggerated way.

"As much as I've tried to take the spotlight from you I've never truly succeed. Chuck is mine Serena, you won't be able to change that."

"You're the one who proclaimed her undying love for Dan."

"And I'm not even sure he loves me as he loves you."

"Dan doesn't love me anymore."

Blair chuckled.

"Sure he does. He believes we're fit to be together. I am his little fantasy. Do you know what the truth is?"

"Enlighten me."

"Writers always want to be the characters they write. Dan despised Chuck but deep down there is something that attracts him so much in Chuck, he'd love to be like him."

Serena sighed.

"What are you trying to say?"

Blair smiled tiredly.

"I don't know if we can let go."

Blair prepared herself to leave when Serena's voice interrupted her.

"Blair! If you knew something pretty big about someone but it could mess up the person forever, would you tell her?"

"We're not friends anymore Serena. I'm not the person you go for advice anymore."

"Please Blair."

"Do you care for that person?" 

"Deeply."

Blair looked at Serena in the eyes before answering:

"Then you protect her. You do whatever it takes to protect her. The question is: do you protect her by saying the truth or by hiding it?"

"How do I know which one?"

Blair smiled at her ex-friend.

"I guess it's about how much you truly know the person you're longing to protect."

Then she was gone.

**At Serena and Chuck's apartment:**

"Hey Monkey! Hey boy! Good boy."

While Chuck was busy with Monkey's love, Serena let herself fall on the sofa.

The ride to the house had been totally silent, both exhausted and lost in their thoughts.

Chuck soon took place by Serena's side after having given Monkey his dinner.

"We didn't see each other so much tonight."

"Funny, isn't?"

Chuck smiled at her.

"How was your night?"

Chuck looked at her before letting his head fall against her shoulder.

"Horrible. Yours?"

"Worst. Something to share?"

Chuck's mind drifted briefly to his moment with Blair on the rooftop. Was it worth explaining? Would she even understand? After a few seconds of thought, he chose silence. How do you tell something you can't even name?

"Nope. What about you?"

Serena fixed her eyes on his and felt her heart beat going faster. All the way back she had been thinking about Blair's words, what was protecting Chuck? Talking or hiding it? She thought about all the hurt he had went through and how much more hurt the truth would bring. She thought whether she would like to know or not if it was her and the answer became clear.

"Nothing worth telling. Let's get some sleep."

"Secrets on the Upper East Sides. Couples switching can be fun, the question is: have you ended up with the right partner? Ps: you all should know by now that secrets don't stay secrets for long around here. Enjoy the calm after the tempest, you never know when the next one is coming your way.

XOXO, Gossip Girl."

"**I thought about how there are two types of secrets: the kind you **_**want**_** to keep in, and the kind you don't **_**dare**_** to let out." **

― **Ally Carter, **_**Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover**_


	9. Who are you Barbara Mansfield?

Thanks for your patience my dear readers. Here is another chapter.

There is not much Chuck/Serena in this one but it's an essential chapter for the development of the story.

I'm looking for a beta reader for this story. If anyone is up, please let me know!

"…everything has a past. Everything – a person, an object, a word, everything. If you don't know the past, you can't understand the present and plan properly for the future."

Chaim Potok, _Davita's Harp_

**Bass Industries offices**

"I can't understand anything anymore!"

Chuck sighed; lately all of his friends were becoming used to enter his office and interrupt whatever he was doing. They were not kids playing at being adults anymore, couldn't they understand? This was a work place, not freaking high school. He looked in front of him and discovered his best friend watching him as if he was the answer to all the questions of humankind.

"Care to explain Chuck?"

If it had been any other person, Chuck would have called security. The ball had been all the social life he needed for a long while and he was utterly exhausted by all the explanations he had been giving lately. He was Chuck Bass; he didn't justify himself; he was and that is all, take him or leave him. If it had been any other person... but this was Nate Archibald, his stupid best friend. He didn't really know why but he had always had a soft spot for the blond.

"Care to elaborate Nathaniel? What should I explain to you? Accounting? Foreign trade? Why the suit you're wearing is _démodé_ since the eighties? So many questions waiting for an answer."

"I see you'll real funny this morning. What has happened to the Upper East Side's love life? I'm lost." 

Chuck had to laugh at Nate's expression; he looked like a little puppy that doesn't get why he's not allowed to sit on the sofa today.

"Do I look like Gossip Girl Nathaniel? Write to it or something, it may have answer to your questions."

Nate put his arm on the table in a directive gesture that resembled him so little. Could it be possible? Could Nathaniel Archibald be growing up?

"I know nobody gets this but you're my best mate. I also know I'm not that great at this friendship but this time I'm worried about you. This could end up very badly and by that I mean it could be worst than all the times when it ends very badly."

Chuck sighed, why was everybody so optimistic lately?

"What do you want me to say?"

Nate looked Chuck in the eye, hoping to find the answer to his questions.

"I want you to look at me and tell me you know what you're doing. I want you to tell me you're over Blair who's over you. I want to hear you're in love with Serena who, by some miracle, is in love with you too and I definitely want to know lonely boy is enough for Blair. Come on, now tell me."

When had his best friend become so perceptive? If Nate became the intelligent one there was no hope for the world anymore.

"Do you want the truth?"

Nate nodded.

"I can't."

Nate stood up and started cursing.

"Chuck, are you conscious how big this is? It could be the end man, the real end."

"Things are the way they are."

"Is that the best you can come up with? This is going to explode in your face."

Chuck felt very aggravated by that affirmation.

"Hey! We're four in this game, why am I the one taking all the blame?"

Nate sighed and took back his place in front of Chuck.

"Serena and Blair always find their way to each other. They are not like us. You and I have a problem, we fight, we sleep it off and we go back to being mates. Blair and Serena hate each other's guts, swear to never forgive each other then kill anyone who hurts the other one. They are irrational and dangerous."

Chuck was staring at Nate dumbfounded.

"I've been there Chuck. I've been the guy between Serena and Blair; let me tell you something about it, it doesn't end well for anybody involved."

Chuck got up and paused in front of his gigantic crystal window in order to contemplate the landscape of New York.

"I didn't look for this Nate. I would have pinned forever after Blair if she hadn't told me she was in love with Humphrey and even then, I'd never have believed I could share something like this with Serena."

He then turned back to look at Nate.

"The problem is that those things did happen. You're right, I have more questions than answers but I can't just forget everything so we can all be safe."

Chuck paused for a second.

"Blair kissed me at the ball."

Nate closed his eyes and breathed deep for a moment; he knew it, he knew something like that would happen.

"I don't know why she did it. Was it because she is still in love with me or simply because I am Serena's now?"

Nate chuckled.

"Good question bro. What about you? Did you want to kiss her back?"

"Of course I wanted to kiss her back but I didn't want to hurt Serena."

Nate sighed.

"See? This is what I was talking about. There is no way in hell this could end with everyone breathing."

He got up and put his hands on Chuck's shoulders.

"I care about Blair and Serena but I care more about you. I just hope you're not the one walking out of this destroyed. Be careful."

**At Lily's house**

Serena entered the house expecting her mother to be there. She was in an agitated mood; last night she hadn't been able to go to sleep despite how tired she was. So many thoughts were bombarding her head: Dan's comments, Blair and Chuck's relationship, Jack and Barbara's secret.

"I thought you knew how to take a hint Serena. Has he broken your heart yet?"

It felt always so nice to be home, thought Serena.

"Then you have nothing to do here."

"I need to talk to you. It's something terribly important, more important than our little feud or your public image."

Lily sighed.

"What is it?"

Serena sat in front of her mother who was working on something.

"Do you know the woman who was with Jack yesterday at the ball?"

"Barbara Mansfield?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Yes, why is this important?"

"Just answer my questions please."

Lily sighed before shutting up her laptop and look at her daughter.

"What do you want to know about her?"

"Whatever you know."

"She was Jack's girlfriend when we were teenagers. They were pretty inseparable back then, high school sweethearts. The Mansfield family was pretty important around here and Bart was already powerful."

Serena nodded.

"Was she one of your friends?"

"She wasn't a friend but she was an acquaintance. We went to the same parties, the same official social events, etc. You know how the Upper East Side is honey. It hasn't changed that much since I was your age."

"What happened to Barbara?"

"I don't know, she suddenly disappeared off the radar. The Mansfield said she had moved to South America in order to develop the family's business. Last thing I knew Jack and Barbara had broken up; she ended up in Colombia while he was sent to Asia to continue his formation."

Serena frowned.

"Isn't it a bit weird that they both disappeared about the same time?"

Lily smiled.

"Honey, you of all people should know what happens when someone flies off the Upper East Side. On the one hand you have the excuse people give to leave and on the other hand you've got the truth."

Serena sighed.

"Do you know what the real reasons were?"

"No, I had my own problems at the time. I just know the breakup shacked them up pretty badly."

"What about Bart?"

"What about him?"

"Well, I was born little after all of this, wasn't I?"

"Yes, you were. What has this to do with Bart?"

"Chuck must have been born around the same time."

"You already know that story; Bart's wife got pregnant and died giving birth."

"Did someone see her pregnant?"

Lily scoffed at the question.

"What's up with all the strange questions Serena?"

"Just answer please."

"No, from the beginning her pregnancy was considered of high risk and she was supposed to rest on a permanent basis. Chuck was born and she was dead. Then Jack came back in order to help Bart but left again soon enough."

Serena looked at her mother with intensity.

"How much time elapsed between the moment Jack was sent to Asia and his come back?"

"I don't know, around eight or nine months. Why?"

"Don't worry, you've already said a lot."

Serena sprung from the sofa leaving a dumbfounded Lilly behind her. She turned back when she had reached the door:

"Mom"

"Yes?"

"Chuck needs you. I know you're angry with us but you're the only motherly figure he has ever known. I know you love him, don't hurt him too much ok?"

Then she left while Lily sighed. What was she going to do with those two?

**Waldorf's residence**

Blair was carefully observing her boyfriend who was concentrating on Harold Bloom's book. She smiled, that's what she liked about them; they had important things in common, culture was definitely one of them. At the moment, however, she couldn't care less about Harold Bloom and the cultural world. They had avoided the subject carefully since yesterday's ball and it was driving Blair nuts. It was as if both of them wanted to show the other that they didn't care at all. Who were they kidding? Of course they cared; they couldn't not care. She sighed, it was obvious she would have to be the grown up one and take the matter in her own hands.

"So, what did you think about it?"

Her voice had been tentative, she sounded almost afraid to ask the question. Dan shifted his eyes from his book to her brown pools; he looked lost.

"What do I think about what?"

Blair groaned, was he really playing that card?

"Come on Dan! The big elephant in the room, Chuck and Serena for god's sake!"

Dan sighed; he knew this was coming. She had been anxious to talk about it since they saw them descend the magnificent stairs; it wasn't his case. He had nothing to say that he really wanted to say so he preferred silence. Maybe it would go away if he stayed silent long enough.

"What do you want me to say?"

Blair sighed. Sometimes Dan could be so slow.

"Whatever you think about it! Don't even tell me you didn't care, neither one of us is stupid enough to believe it."

"I sure cared less than you."

The words were whispered but they didn't escaped Blair's attention.

"What are you implying?"

Dan set his book on the table and got up.

"See? This is exactly why I didn't want to have this conversation."

"Too late, what are you implying Humphrey?"

"I'm just stating the obvious Blair. Yesterday I was worried about Serena, you are just jealous because of Chuck."

Blair started to laugh hysterically at that. Was he really serious?

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I am not kidding you."

"Are you saying it didn't bother you in the slightest to see the supposed love of your life with the man you despise the most?"

"It bothered me to see a good girl like Serena with a devil like Chuck Bass. What bothers me even more is that my girlfriend, the love of my life, cares more about it than about us."

Blair smiled sadly and approached him before resuming the conversation.

"You walk around as if you're morally superior. Dan Humphrey; the Brooklyn boy, the lonely boy, the writer, the better man but you're not totally innocent, are you Dan?"

"What are you implying now?"

"You feel like a king so you wanted the queen. The outcast boy takes the girl away from the protagonist. I'm your own Hermione, aren't I Ronald?"

Dan snorted.

"Harry Potter references Blair, really?"

"You were happy to take the girl from Chuck Bass and now you're just horribly afraid to lose both girls to him."

"Should I be afraid?"

"You think Serena is yours, you think she's never stopped being yours."

Dan snorted and looked at the ground for a few moments, gathering his thoughts.

"I do and I'm afraid you've never really been mine to begin with."

Blair took her boyfriend's hands in her own.

"I do love you Dan. I am in love with you."

Dan squeezed Blair's hands.

"I know that. The question is, is that enough?"

**At a restaurant in Brooklyn**

Serena was anxiously waiting. The woman was already late, had she lost herself in a part of the city she wasn't familiarized with? Her thoughts were interrupted by her arrival; she was a beautiful woman but she seemed older than her age. She looked exhausted, wasted by the ghost of the life she could have led. She approached the table and shook hands cordially with Serena.

"Miss Van Der Woodsen, pleased to meet you."

"Sit down Miss Mansfield."

Barbara smiled. It had been a long time since someone had called her Miss Mansfield. At twenty she had married an important Colombian businessman and had become Miss Olaberría. She had missed the ring her maiden name had to the ear.

"It's Miss Olaberría now but it's nice to hear the Mansfield name once again."

Serena was surprised at this; she was a married woman? What the hell was she doing in New York with Jack then? This is the Upper East Side Serena, when has marriage consisted of a deep, loyal and bonding love?

"Can I call you Barbara?"

"Please, do call me Barbara and I may call you Serena. As you can see I acceded to your request since I feel rather intrigued. We don't know each other at all and you ask for a _rendez-vous_ in Brooklyn. Why the trouble Serena?"

There were two ways to go, Serena thought. She could take the slow road or cut straight to the point. She felt pretty useless while sitting at that restaurant, she had never known how to deal with this kind of situations. Blair and Chuck did, they were the ones to save her and Nate's ass when they did wrong.

"Look Barbara, I am not good at this so I'll go straight to the point. I heard your and Jack's conversation yesterday."

Barbara felt her blood go cold. She had accepted Serena's invitation because she had seen the girl on Chuck's arm the night before; this, however, was rather unexpected and unsettling.

"Could you elaborate? I had many conversations with Jack last night."

"Don't bullshit me Barbara. You know very well what conversation I'm talking about. The one where you and Jack said Chuck was your son."

"What do you want? Money? A favour? What Serena?"

Serena felt deeply offended. For a brief moment she had thought that Barbara couldn't be worse than Bart and Jack; now, however, she was beginning to think otherwise.

"Excuse me? I don't need your money and certainly not your favours."

"Then what do you want?" 

"Chuck's happiness is what I want. Tell me the story."

Barbara sighed before setting her purse on the stable and started talking.

"There's not much more than what you heard. Jack and I were stupid, young and in love. I got pregnant but our families disapproved. We couldn't get stuck with a child at 17 they said; it would ruin our futures and reputations. They gave us two options: abortion or adoption."

Serena felt her heart hurt for the woman; it could have happened to herself.

"Jack wanted me to get the abortion. He said we could forget about it and keep our lives as they were. We would grow up and marry as we had planned."

"Why didn't you?"

Barbara smiled sadly at the memory. She could see herself at 17; lost, pressured and alone.

"I simply couldn't. It seemed unfair; I had lots of money, there was no valid reason for me to get an abortion. At least I didn't feel like there was. I loved Jack deeply, I couldn't stand to destroy what came out of our union."

"But you could have had another child later on."

"Who says so? Life is unplanned Serena; the fact that you can do something today doesn't mean you're going to be able to do it tomorrow. We let go so many things by thinking in that way."

Barbara shook her head; tears had welled up in her eyes.

"What did happen?"

"Jack got angry, he couldn't understand. He gave me an ultimatum: the kid or him."

"But you were going to give it into adaption anyway!"

"As I said Serena, we were young and stupid. You're not necessarily rational at that age; you want things done your way and get angry at the world when it doesn't happen. Jack wanted an abortion."

"Then what?"

"I told my parents I had made a choice: I would have the child then give him away. Jack got very mad at me; I was devastated. I had lost the only person I had."

Serena stared at her in awe.

"You were protecting him. You were already protecting your child."

"Some months before, my love story with Jack was the most important thing in my life then it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered more than he did. I suddenly had a mission in life: to protect him."

"What happened then?"

"My family had important business in South America. They sent me there so my pregnancy would stay a secret. I spent nine months thinking about the person that was going to become Chuck Bass."

"Why didn't you keep him? I don't understand; you wanted him."

"I did but I had nothing to give him. If I had kept him my family would have kicked me out. I had nothing Serena; I was just a beautiful rich girl who had had it easy all her life. What was I supposed to do?"

"You had love to give him."

"But I wasn't raised in a place were love was that important. Money and power were bigger than love. I wasn't strong enough; I couldn't do it.

Serena's heart had broken for Chuck by then. The feeling of being unworthy of love had marked his whole life because nobody had been able to love him. The whole time he had a mother who loved him dearly somewhere in South America. How would have been Chuck Bass surrounded by love instead of power and money? She would have done anything to give that to him although she perfectly knew the past was written and done with.

"There is something I can't understand. How did Chuck end up as Bart's son?"

"I didn't want to give him into adaption to anybody. I wanted guarantees; I wanted to know he would be provided with everything he needed. I had still one month to go when Bart presented himself in Uruguay."

"Bart went over there?"

Barbara nodded.

"His wife wanted a child at any coast but she couldn't have any. At first I didn't want to give him Chuck. I had grown up in the Upper East Side, I knew it was an ambivalent place."

"Ambivalent?"

"His material necessities would be exceptionally attended. He would have never to worry about grants or college funds. He could be whomever he wanted to. I had much more doubts about his emotional needs."

Serena nodded. If she had to raise a child, she didn't know if she would pick the Upper East Side.

"Why did you agree in the end?"

"I think the material side won. I felt more connected to him knowing he would grow up where I did. We would belong to the same world even if we couldn't be together."

Serena nodded but couldn't help to disapprove. Bart Bass had to be the worst option ever to raise a kid.

"I know what you're thinking. How could I give my child to someone like Bart Bass? Bart wasn't the same he became later Serena. He wasn't the kindest of all people but he loved his wife very tenderly."

"The famous Elizabeth?"

Barbara smiled at the name; she had been really fond of that woman.

"Missy was fabulous. In fact, you remind me a bit of her. She was luminous, the rooms just lighted up when she entered them. She was kind and compassionate, she would become a beautiful mother."

"What happened then?"

"Chuck was born and Bart immediately took him away. Jack couldn't bear to see his child everyday so he ended up staying in Asia developing Bass industries. He contacted me but I was too resentful towards him to resume anything we had. I ended up moving to Colombia and settled down with a businessman." 

"What happened to Bart and Missy?"

Barbara sighed sadly and closed her eyes for a moment in order to control her tears.

"Missy got sick very soon after having Chuck with her. She died a few months afterwards and all the good in Bart seemed to shut off. By that time it was too late to do anything, Chuck grew up with the worst version of Bart Bass."

Serena felt tears in her own eyes. Chuck had been a tragic character since the beginning.

"Were you able to have more children?"

"My husband turned out to be sterile. See? I told you, you never know what your last chance might be."

Serena looked at Barbara with infinite compassion. She had entered the restaurant determined to hate the woman but she couldn't find it in her to do so.

"I failed, didn't I? He had a shitty life."

"He is a millionaire after all."

Barbara smiled at Serena's attempt to lighten up the mood.

"You did the best you could at the time. There is no need to beat you up over it Barbara. If it helps, I think Chuck could have come out of everything way more messed up than he is."

Thanks to Blair, thought Serena unwillingly.

**At Bass industries**

"I want the company."

Chuck chuckled at his uncle.

"Yes and I want world peace like Miss America."

"You don't understand Chuck. I'm trying to help."

"And why should I believe you? It would not be the first time you try to ruin my life."

"This time is different."

"I'm not giving you the company Jack."

Chuck looked at his uncle as if he was crazy.

"I'll buy it then I'll give it back to you in a few months." 

"I don't know what this is about but you can go to hell uncle."

**Back at the restaurant**

"Don't say anything Serena, please. I don't want to mess him up more."

"That is not my decision to make. If you don't want to tell him, I won't do it."

Barbara let out a sigh of relief.

"But you have to tell me why you are here. What is Jack trying to achieve? What's the deal Barbara?"

**Chuck's apartment**

"Lily?"

"Hello Charles. May I talk to you for a moment?"

"Please, come in."

"I am totally opposed to what you and Serena are doing."

"Lily..."

"Let me finish Charles. I am not happy with you at the moment but I love you nonetheless. I told you we were family and we are. Sometimes I'm going to be pissed at you and you're going to be pissed at me but that's it."

Chuck smiled at Lily's words.

"We won't be eating lunch together for a while but if you need anything, whatever it is, you call and I come. You're still a son to me Charles, even when you're being a stupid prick."

Chuck chuckled openly now, when had he not been a stupid prick anyways?

"Thank you Lily, you don't know how much those words mean to me."

"One last thing Charles. Try not to break Serena completely, all right? That girl, my daughter, is in love with you."

Lily left leaving a thoughtful Chuck behind her. For the first time he felt he truly understood the responsibility laying behind those words: "She's in love with you" as in "She trusts you", "She depends on you too", "You're responsible for her happiness now" and he felt overwhelmed.

**Back at the restaurant**

Barbara looked at Serena in the eye for a long moment trying to assess the young woman character. Could she be trusted? She did care for Chuck, didn't she? Otherwise she wouldn't be there.

"Fine but you have to swear you won't say a thing to him."

"I promise."

Serena knew she might have talked too soon. She didn't like to make promises she couldn't keep.

"Bart is alive."

**Back at Chuck's**

"It took you long enough!"

Blair turned angrily at Chuck.

"You call me in the middle of the day asking me to come urgently. You're freaking lucky I did come at all."

Both knew that was bullshit; many things could happen between Chuck and Blair but one thing was clear, they always had each other's back; at least when they weren't the ones backstabbing each other.

"What's so important that you couldn't say it through the phone?"

"Jack wants the company."

Blair snorted. That was the big revelation? What would it be next time? Birds fly and fishes swim?

"Are you losing your mind Chuck? Jack has always wanted the damn company."

"I know that Blair but it's different this time."

"How so?"

"It came out of nowhere. It was totally out of the blue. He said he would pay then hand it back to me, he said he was trying to help."

"Do we believe Jack Bass now? That guy is a bastard! It's just one more of his stratagems." 

"I think the same but something was off. There is something weird about everything."

**Back at the restaurant**

"Excuse me?"

"There's no need to explain everything. The less you know, the safer you are. He faked his own death in order to protect himself from dangerous people."

"What has this to do with you and Jack?"

"Bart is not only a very powerful man Serena, he is terribly dangerous. If he comes back, and he will come back, he'll do anything to take the company from Chuck."

"Well, it is his company if he's still alive anyway."

"You don't understand. Chuck has been investigating things lately. Jack thinks he has discovered something crucial about his dad. If he does discover it he might become a threat. Bart has a only one way to deal with threats."

Serena was feeling dizzy. Was she implying that Bart would kill Chuck? She knew Bart wasn't a man of heart but this? To kill the son he had raised, his own heir? It seemed hard to believe.

"We're trying to have Chuck give the company to Jack. That way we can deal with Bart when he comes back and give it back to Chuck when everything is in order."

How the hell was she supposed to know if she was telling the truth or not?

"I know it's hard to believe but it's the truth. I can't make up for everything but I can save his life now just as I did back then."

Serena searched desperately for some clue on Barbara's face that her story was true but she knew nothing would help. She only had her guts about this and, let face it, her guts had never been the best thing about her.

**Back at Chuck's apartment**

To arrive home to find your boyfriend with his ex, aka the supposed love of his life, in the living room wasn't the best way to finish the day. Serena would have been mad but the day had been so strange, crazy and unsettling that this scene was the most familiar and comfortable by far.

"Don't worry Blondie, we 're talking business."

To anybody else, Blair's tone would have seemed innocent. Serena, however, knew better. They hadn't been best friends for years for nothing. She grasped perfectly the slight reproach lying underneath the words: "You, on the other hand, will never be able to talk business with him. Such a shame since it's an essential part of his life." She let it go for now, there were more important things to do.

"You have to sell the company to Jack."

Chuck and Blair looked at Serena as if she was growing a second head. She had blurted the words before thinking about them. She didn't know how to justify her affirmation but she couldn't stay silent.

"No! Are you crazy? Don't listen to her Chuck, not in a million years!"

Blair screamed at a dumbfounded Chuck who was looking back and forth between the two women of his life.

"So you're always honest," I said.

"Aren't you?"

"No," I told him. "I'm not."

"Well, that's good to know, I guess."

"I'm not saying I'm a liar," I told him. He raised his eyebrows. "That's not how I meant it, anyways."

"How'd you mean it, then?"

"I just...I don't always say what I feel."

"Why not?"

"Because the truth sometimes hurts," I said.

"Yeah," he said. "So do lies, though."

Sarah Dessen, _Just Listen_

Nate is alive! What did you think? Is Barbara telling the truth or is this another one of Jack's schemes?

Xoxo, Gossip girl.


	10. Trust issues

Here is a new chapter.

I really have to thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I haven't had the time to answer them but I read them very carefully. I appreciate so much that you take time in order to let me know your own take on this story. All my 3

Ps: someone volunteer to be my beta reader for this but, since I'm a total mess, I can't find the comment anymore. If you're reading this, please volunteer again!

"_**The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."**_

_**Ernest Hemingway**_

**CHUCK'S APARTMENT **

"Shut up! Both of you!"

Chuck couldn't stand it anymore. Deep down he knew both girls were on his side; he knew they were yelling at each other in order to defend what they believed what benefic for him but he just couldn't stand it anymore.

He carefully walked towards Serena and stopped in front of her. Then, with a suave voice, he asked:

"Why?"

Such a simple question, thought Chuck. Honestly, Serena's suggestion seemed plain absurd to Chuck. It defied any kind of logical though and she had to know it. She was a smart girl; she had to know it didn't make any sense to trust Jack.

Jack Bass. The man that had sabotaged him every chance he had gotten. Serena didn't get it. She was too innocent to understand how the Bass worked. Chuck had to learn to survive between them, to become one of them; he knew what kind of shit they all swam in. Could a Bass act out of generosity? That was out of question.

Chuck couldn't help himself but to think of a little story; the story of the turtle and the scorpion. Once upon a time there were a nice and peaceful turtle on the side of river. A scorpion, dangerous as any scorpion was, came to the turtle and asked her to help him cross the river. The turtle, that wasn't stupid, refused; he was a scorpion after all! How could she be assured he wouldn't kill her? Easy, answered the scorpion. If we cross the river and I bite you, we'll both drown. It is in my best interest that you stay alive and well. It made sense, thought the turtle. She accepted; the scorpion popped upon her and she began to swim. Halfway the river, the scorpion bites her. Why did you do that? Asked the turtle. Now we'll both drown! The scorpion answered that, although he tried, he couldn't avoid it; it was his nature.

The Bass family was one of scorpions. Even if, by some miracle, Jack had good intentions, he was still a scorpion. Chuck knew, he was one himself and he refused to become the poor damned innocent turtle. If there was something Chuck wasn't, that was innocent. So every cell of his body was screaming at him: don't ever go there! Blair was right; he knew so. That's why to take the time to ask why someone would suggest otherwise was a demonstration of love. If it had been anyone other than Serena, he wouldn't have accord him the time of a question.

Since Serena proposed such an extravagant thing to do, he assumed that the least he could ask for was a reason. The reason, however, didn't seem to come since Serena was staying there, speechless. So he gave her a second chance.

"Serena, why would I do that? Why would I trust Jack Bass of all people?"

Serena looked down. She hadn't thought about that. Why, indeed, should he? He should because Jack was his father, because Barbara was his mother and cared for him. Those were good enough reasons but she couldn't share them. They had to stay secret. Why, then, should he listen to her? Serena believed easily in people; she was a trusting person and she knew that it had landed her in a lot of problems that people like Chuck and Blair, colder people, had to solve for her. She firmly believed, however, in Barbara's story. Chuck's life was on the line; what was she supposed to do?

"Because."

Blair snorted and sighed exasperated.

Chuck just kept watching Serena.

"Because?" He repeated, bemused.

"Because."

Blair gathered her things and walked towards the door.

"Whenever you've talked some sense into her and want to discuss seriously what to do, call me."

The sound of the door closing didn't modify their positions at all. Serena could have melted under Chuck's intense gaze; she sighed.

"Look, I know "because" is not a good reason. In fact, it's not a reason at all but I can't give you any better."

"What am I missing here? You come out of nowhere to tell me I should sell my company to Jack. How did you even know he wants to buy it? Have you talked to him?"

"Well, I'd loved to have been informed by you but, apparently, you preferred to go to Blair. That is the way things work out, isn't it Chuck? You come home to me and go to her when it really matters."

Serena made the saddest face she could muster and prayed. She prayed her little stratagem would work; she prayed Chuck would believe her act. Maybe if she made him feel guilty enough, he would feel the need to choose her side over Blair's on this.

She knew it wasn't the cleanest of moves but, at the moment, it was everything she got. She didn't like to manipulate Chuck but it was her only chance and she knew how to do it; she was Lily's daughter after all, manipulating men was in her genes. Logic wasn't on her side but maybe emotions would.

Chuck studied her closely.

"You didn't answer my questions. You can't bargain in here and talk to me about trust issues."

"Oh my god, are you suspecting –even for a moment- that I could be teaming up with Jack?"

Come on, thought Serena. Let's put on your most scandalized face you can, he has to buy this one.

"Of course not. Serena, do you want me to trust you? I am dying to but give me something to help me here."

Serena sighed.

"It's very simple Chuck. Do you trust me or do you trust Blair?"

Chuck erupted into a fit of hysterical laughter. She couldn't be serious. Women, he thought, they never are where you expect them to be.

"You're kidding, right? There has to be a hidden camera somewhere. This isn't about us or about Blair and me! There are facts Serena. There is history. We're talking about millions and millions of dollars. We're talking about everything I've got. Bass industries is my life Serena."

Wrong, thought the blond one. Bass Industries could be the death of you.

"You say it's not about you and Blair but it is Chuck. Of course it is. Are you going to call her every chance you get? We're a couple Chuck, which means we're also partners from now on. I am the one you should come to in this kind of cases. If I am not good enough for this, maybe I'm not good enough for anything else when it comes to you."

She couldn't believe she was doing this. Guilt tripping Chuck Bass? What was wrong with her? Her heart was breaking seeing the tortured expression of his face. She was giving him an ultimatum. What if it didn't work? What if he told her that she was right, that he was better off with Blair?

Maybe she should have told him the truth. They could have worked it out together but now it was too late. She had taken a road and she would travel it until the end. Her strategy was risky but it was the only thing she had.

What she didn't want to confront was the part of truth that lied in the stratagem. It was too son to make him choose between her and Blair; she knew it. He hadn't lied to her about it. She knew the brunette still held so much power over him. Chuck's reaction wouldn't only determine the course of Bass Industries, it would also determine the course of their own relationship.

"This is unfair Serena. Maybe you're right, maybe I should have called you but what would you have said? "Because"?"

Serena walked towards Chuck and took his hands into hers.

"I know trust is a concept you don't manage Chuck. I know trust isn't an issue when talking about economical empires. I know all that. I do."

She squeezed his hands and felt absorbed by his intense stare.

"But love is about trust. I am asking you to trust me. I know Jack is on the good side of this scheme. I can't tell you why but I just know it."

Chuck shook his head but Serena didn't let him move away.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me what you see."

"What?"

"Just do it! Do you see a girl who wants to hurt you or do you see one who wants to protect you with everything she got?"

Chuck studied her carefully. He studied a face he had learned to know by heart over the years. He could still tell her childhood's traits in the womanly face she had now. Her face was a map where he loved to travel. What did he see when he looked at her like that?

"Can you find a single thing in my eyes that could make you not to trust me?"

Could he?

He concentrated deeply; he knew this was a defining moment for both of them. What did he see?

He saw the prom queen; beautiful without trying, powerful without caring, loved and admired from afar without intending to.

He also saw a little girl who wanted to be daddy's little princess but, sadly, daddy was never home.

He saw the crazy and rebel teenager who tried every kind of excess, just as he did.

He could feel the hurt, the desire for revenge locked deep inside, the lack of self-confidence that lied beyond the surface.

He saw a girl who was in love with him. He saw a girl who needed the reassurance; a girl who wanted him to prove to her that he was hers and not Blair's anymore.

When he looked at her, everything he could see was devotion and trust.

Those were emotions totally unknown for him. No hidden interests like when his family was involved; no underlying game like when Blair was in front of him.

The pureness of the feeling was so intense; he thought he would faint from it.

Maybe that's why he did something he shouldn't have done. The first rule of business was to not let emotions in it. Deep down, Chuck knew it all came down to that.

Have you ever asked yourself why business people are so cold? It's because they cannot be otherwise. Why are they so inhumane? It's because humanity always ruins it all. Feelings, people, conscience; the three of them are the enemies of a good deal. No, thought Chuck, he wasn't cold because of a hobby of his. Coldness meant clarity of mind.

What Chuck was experimenting right now was exactly the opposite: clarity of soul. It was a new experience to him. He felt drugged. He believed he was hallucinating. He forgot everything he had once known by heart. In one moment he relearnt everything; he relearnt the world, he relearnt himself, he relearnt her. A bonded was being created looking into those amazing sapphire eyes. He felt sucked up in a new life. Woodstock, he thought at the moment, must have been something like that.

The logic of his thoughts disappeared slowly; so did his brain as a whole. In the end, only remained absolute trust, total peace of mind. What did he see when he looked at her? God, that's what he saw. The feeling of God, whatever religion you belong to, must be this.

"I do."

"W-w-what?"

Chuck's voice had interrupted the trance Serena had lost into. What had just happened? It had felt like some kind of extra corporeal experience. She had seen his soul. She had touched it. For a moment they had reenacted the act of birth; that moment when you're one and only with the world and everything that lies around you. She felt as if it was the first time she saw him at all and she was amazed by his beauty; by the complexity of his soul. The transcendence of it all brought tears to her eyes.

"What did you just say?"

"I said I trust you. I'll sell."

He loved her, thought Serena. Blair was over. He loved her. Now she knew. She slowly tangled her delicate hands in his jet hair and kissed him. What she then felt was amazing; she knew, right there, that this was her first kiss.

**BLAIR'S HOUSE **

"Can you do it?"

"What exactly?

"Looking into this. I need everything you can find on Jack Bass and Barbara Mansfield. You know I'll pay whatever is needed."

"It's always a pleasure to make business with you Miss Waldorf."

"Be fast. I need the information as soon as humanly possible."

Blair hung down the phone and turn around to see her boyfriend sprawled over the sofa.

"You're loosing your time. He'll never listen to Serena."

Blair snorted at her boyfriend's innocence. Or was it stupidity?

"If only you could be right."

"You can't really believe he will. It's Chuck Bass!"

"He's a man. Love is a liability. Chuck Bass is not immune to liabilities. Unlike the general belief, Chuck's problems are not the result of his lack of humanity but of his excess of it."

Dan finally caught onto something and took a deep breath.

"Do you realize that if he does listen to her, it means he is completely over you?"

Blair sighed before looking into her boyfriend's eyes.

"Of course I do."

"And yet you're still working to save his ass?"

Blair chuckled deeply.

"My dear lonely boy, for a writer you sure are slow to catch up on our dynamics."

Dan looked expectantly at Blair, awaiting a more detailed explanation.

"Chuck and I may be toxic about each other but that doesn't mean I don't care about him. I love him and I always will, whether we're together or not. If he needs me, he needs me –him wanting me or not has nothing do to with it-."

Dan sighed. How could it be possible? How could people as immoral as Chuck and Blair have access to a bond's depth he couldn't even imagine?

"You are so twisted."

Blair smiled.

"Chuck, Serena, Nate and I are a family; a sick, twisted and dysfunctional family but a family nonetheless. We may stab each other in the back but that doesn't mean we are going to let anybody else do so."

**SOMEWHERE IN MANHATTAN **

"Did she buy it?"

A high and easy chuckle escaped her throat.

"Absolutely. You were totally right; she is such an innocent girl. Are you sure she grew up on the Upper East Side?"

"You'd be be surprised at her scandalous past. She must have seen too many Disney movies as a child."

"Well, what's the next step Mr.?"

"We wait for the mouse to get into the trap all by itself."

"_**I never understood why Clark Kent was so hell bent on keeping Lois Lane in the dark."**_

_**Audrey Niffenegger, **__**The Time Traveler's Wife**_

Chuck was kind of drunk on emotions. That's the only way he would have made such a decision. The question is: how much does an emotional hangover last?

What did you think of Serena's strategy to make Chuck to agree with her? Our girl is brilliant!

But a bit innocent maybe? Oh the cliffhanger at the end… Dot dot dot.

**_Review _**

**_XOXO_**


	11. Peace never lasts

Dear readers, I want to apologize to all of you.

I published this story in February of 2012 and it's already November of 2014. I don't know how the hell this happened.

This is how things are going to play out, if someone i still reading (lol): there are five intense chapter left.

Before the month ends, the story will be over.

Love,

the slowest author ever.

_"Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."_

_Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land_

_**Lily & Serena**_

A signature was all it took. It seems of bad taste, doesn't it? It seems unfitting that years, whole lives, of work and effort put into building an empire can lose their meaning with the signature of a young man. If Bart had been there contemplate such a scene, he would have been terribly disappointed in his son, thought Lily.

When everybody had left, leaving Chuck with the empty promise of having back the company in a few months, Lily approached Serena, a stern expression on her face.

"May I have a word with you, Serena?"

Her daughter nodded and followed her into an adjacent room. Lily closed the door and sighed deeply.

"What the hell have you done?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Oh, I'm sorry to disappoint but this is not that complex to read. Two kids in love fucking around with things way more important than them. We've all been there, Serena. You're not the first."

"I know things."

Lily snorted, shaking her head. "Let's talk about all the things you do not know. You never cared about business Serena. Do you think the Upper East Side is hard? Try to enter the council of administration of an empire."

"I am protecting Chuck, mom."

"Maybe you think you are. They have probably made you believe you are but you're destroying him Serena! Chuck was doing so great with Bass Industries. It was his legacy."

"A legacy that was going to destroy him."

"And losing it won't destroy him? Chuck was born and raised to own this economical empire. This was his destiny, what do you think he's going to do now? People like him and Bart, Serena, do not know how to do anything else. This may destroy them but, without this, they don't stand a chance."

"He'll get it back then he'll be safe."

Lily chuckled loudly, unable to decide if she had made a wonderful job of raising Serena or the worst one.

"Dear god, you truly believe Jack will give him back the company? Where have you been all your life, Serena?"

Serena sighed sadly. "Can we never believe in the good intentions of others?"

Lily stared intently at her daughter. She wasn't a little girl anymore. She should be over the fairytale phase by now. She should be able to handle the truth.

"People that trust in the good intentions of others end up ruined, dead, crazy or all of the stated."

Serena casted her eyes down unable to answer.

"I'll ask you one last time, Serena. Even if it has been signed, we can still do something about it. What do you know that made you push Chuck to make this decision?"

Serena stared at her mother deeply, fighting the urge to tell her the truth.

"We can still salvage Bart's legacy. We can still give Chuck back what's his. What is there to know, Serena?"

Serena swallowed and took a deep breath. "I am sorry but I can't tell. You'll have to trust me on this one."

Lily nodded. "Then let's hope you're not wrong because everyone seems to have to trust you on this one."

Lily left, the noise of her heals tapping on the floor being the only one heard in the gigantic room. Serena stayed there, dumbfounded, watching how the figure of her mother retreated into the dark of the invisible. For the first time, the responsibility of her actions and choices truly sank down on her. Lily was right, she better not have made a mistake on this one.

_**Blair & Nathaniel**_

Blair was terribly busy with her English essay when Dorotha knocked on her door.

"Not now Dorotha! I am trying to make sense out of Marlow! God, I hate his guts. Reading Marlow over Shakespeare is like preferring Dior to Channel."

"Mister Nathaniel is here to see you, Blair."

Blair sighed, was Nate still alive? She has totally forgotten about her existence. That boy loved appearing out of the blue.

"Whatever. Let him com in."

Nate entered the room and sat on Blair's bed without asking for her permission.

"What the hell do you want Nathaniel? I have things to do, important ones. I don't have time to play."

"Believe me, if I wanted to play you'd be the last person I'd come to."

The intensity of Blair's glare froze Nate to the spot. He decided then that it was better to not keep joking.

"It's about Chuck."

"What about him?"

"He sold the company to Jack."

"I already know that."

Blair kept on typing her essay, even though it didn't make that much sense anymore.

"And you let him do it?"

Blair sighed and turned around, angrily. "For your information, Charles Bass is over twenty-one years old and therefore hold responsible for his actions. What was I supposed to do?"

"Tell him it was a ridiculous thing to do?"

"He already knows that but it seems he is momentarily crazy over love. You should talk to Serena."

"Blair, he needs help."

"Look Nathaniel, if Chuck sold it was because he wanted to. I don't know why but it if he did, he wanted to. This is Chuck Bass after all."

"Blair, he needs help."

Blair sighed deeply. "I know and I'm on it but this is going to be really hard to solve. He sold the company."

"If someone can solve this, I am sure it's you."

"Do all of you know I have a life apart from saving Chuck Bass' ass? I have college, a boyfriend, an empire of my own, etc."

Nate smiled. "I know but this is Chuck Bass we're talking about, right?"

_**Serena & Chuck & Monkey**_

Serena stopped at the frame of the door, smiling at the familiar image in front of her. Chuck was sat on the sofa, hugging Monkey who was busy licking his face. She smiled to herself, finding it hard to believe they had achieved such a level of intimacy.

"How are you?"

Chuck looked up and shrugged, not leaving Monkey's ears.

"How does it feel to be unemployed?"

"Weird, it feels really weird. Moreover, the press of this country won't leave me alone so I can't access my phone to contact with the world."

"And why would you want that?" Said Serena approaching the sofa and finding her own place on it.

"I'm bored."

"It will only be for a few months."

"I know, I know." Serena perceived the slight doubt in Chuck's voice but didn't insist on it.

"Do you regret it?"

"Not really, even though it's surprising. It feels nice to just trust somebody."

Serena smiled at Chuck and nuzzled his neck with her head. "It does, doesn't it?"

Chuck nodded and whispered into her ear: "I love you."

"So do I."

And all seemed to be well in their own little world of love, trust and a bit of pixie dust.

_**Blair & …**_

Blair had to take a few deep breaths in order to not jump on the man in front of her. Chuck had been through so much suffering, all for nothing.

"Miss Waldorf, I should have known you'd be the one to find me."

"You wouldn't be found if you didn't want to, would you?"

The man chuckled slightly. "Let's say that recent events have forced me to step out but your effort is still impressive, Miss Waldorf."

"Stop licking my ass and start telling what the hell is going on here."

"Watch your language, Blair. You still own me a bit of respect after all."

"Respect is owned Bart, not bought."

_"The truth is not for all men but only for those who seek it."_

_Ayn Rand_


	12. And the truth came out

"_**Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy."**_

_**Warren W. Wiersbe.**_

_**Mrs. Waldorf Vs. Mr. Bass**_

Blair sat sipping at her tea, looking intently into Bart's eyes. She couldn't help but think how much their lives resembled a bad soap opera sometimes. She couldn't help but let her mind wander back to that day Chuck had almost killed himself jumping from a rooftop. Not jumping, she corrected herself; people like Chuck Bass didn't jump from rooftops, they let themselves gracefully fall as the symbol of decay they were made out to be.

She had almost lost Chuck that day. She knew, better than anyone else, how close it was. Her love had saved him back then and, she swore to herself, her love would save him once again. The man sitting in front of him was the unique responsible for that terrifying experience. Chuck had felt unworthy, unloved, alone and guilty. He almost let himself die out of grief for a man who didn't even die.

"Start talking Mr. Bass, I think you have some explaining to do."

Bart Bass shrugged, a triumphant smile on his face. He was the very image of a predator and, next to him, Chuck was almost a teddy bear.

"I am afraid the simplicity of it all will disappoint you, Miss Waldorf. The reality is nothing like the stories an avid reader such as you enjoy."

"Oh, believe me Mr. Bass, reality constantly outperforms fiction; specially in the Upper East Side."

Bart smirked before keeping up his narration. "I was being followed. I am a very powerful man, Mrs. Waldorf, and therefore a man perpetually in danger. I knew their plans before they could carry them on so I saved myself."

"By faking your own death?"

"Alas, a trick as old as the earth itself. There is no need to kill a dead man, after all."

"Who was after you?"

Bart chuckled loudly. "Who wasn't? This time it was a rival company but I am sure many others celebrated my death, didn't they?"

Blair nodded, conscious of the truth in Bart's words. She also suspected the danger he had been in was deeply connected to all the dirt that lied in his business but, if she ever found out, it wouldn't be from Bart Bass himself.

"Why didn't you let Chuck know? You surely could have let him know."

Bart sighed. "Ah, young love. Mrs. Waldorf, every person that knows is a liability. When feelings get involved, people become a mess surprisingly fast. Letting Chuck know would have multiplied the danger."

"Your son isn't a liability. He is a strong businessman. You've simply never believed enough in him."

"Oh Blair, don't you see? Letting Chuck know wouldn't have multiplied the danger only for me but also for him. I was protecting him as much as I was protecting myself."

Blair wanted to protest but she couldn't oppose to the logic of such a statement. Chuck had indeed been safer not knowing.

"He almost killed himself. He almost self-destroyed."

"But you were there to stop him and I knew it. Things have changed however, haven't they?"

Blair looked up to Bart who always knew more than the characters involved.

"Chuck and Serena, I must say I was surprised. I personally prefer you, Mrs. Waldorf. I believe a strong and intelligent young woman like you is cut out to stand next to someone as Chuck. However, if I am not wrong, you were the one to abandon him, weren't you?"

"Are you trying to make a point there, Bart?"

"It's just that you sit there accusing me of not caring enough for my son but you hurt him as bad as I did."

"I am afraid that such a thing would be impossible, Mr. Bass."

Blair swallowed and fought internally against the injustice of such words. She and Chuck had made enormous mistakes with each other but they still had each other's backs, didn't they? She was there today, confronting Bart, as she had been there that day on the rooftop.

"He sold the company to Jack."

Bart sighed. "I know, what a stupid move."

"Explain it to me."

"People in love make stupid things Blair, don't they?"

Blair nodded. "Absolutely but Serena must have known something to suggest such a stupid thing."

"She was never the brightest, was she?"

"She was never the stupidest, either. To do what she did, she had to believe she was helping Chuck. Why did she believe so, Bart?"

"I guess Serena can lie extremely well. She must have inherited from her mother, after all."

Blair tried not to vomit and thanked the gods and goddesses right there for how different Chuck truly was from his father.

"What do you mean?"

"Jack plotted with Barbara to get the company, deceiving Serena was part of the plan."

"Who is Barbara?"

Bart sighed. "I guess there's no much reason to cover up the truth anymore. Barbara Mansfield was the daughter of one of the most powerful families of the Upper East Side."

"The Mansfield, the family owning half of the oil of South America?"

"Those, exactly. She was also Jack's sweetheart back then. The Blair and Chuck from the time, if you'd like."

"Continue, please."

"It was a tremendous relationship. They loved each other deeply but they rip each other apart like none other. They went back and forth, back and forth in an eternal dance of impossibility. It was painful to watch."

Blair swallowed, trying hard not to trace the similitudes between that relationship and her love with Chuck.

"What happened?"

"Jack did something atrocious and Barbara wanted to hit back. Missy wanted a child hopelessly and I wanted to give Missy anything she desired. Sadly, it was impossible for her to conceive any children. Barbara, aware of the situation, offered herself one night."

Blair scoffed. "Couldn't you have adopted, like everyone else?"

"In the Upper East Side we do nothing like everyone else, as you well know."

"What's the rest of the story?"

"Barbara wanted to destroy Jack, she wanted to torn it apart as badly as she had been torn by him. She thought having a child with his brother would be good enough."

"And you had not a problem taking advantage of her."

"Mrs. Waldorf, Barbara came willingly. That's what a certain kind of relationship does to you."

Blair sighed sadly at how well she could picture Barbara's hurt, her desire of revenge and her ultimate betrayal.

"We did it the old fashioned way. It wasn't pleasant for either of us but it was the fastest possibility. She was pregnant within two weeks."

"What did Jack do?"

"At first, he believed the child was his and was ready to assume it. He even proposed to Barbara."

Blair didn't really need to hear the rest of the story; it was too predicable.

"You told him the truth."

"I couldn't lose that child. Missy was getting sadder everyday and that kid was her only light. Moreover, I couldn't let my little brother to live in a lie."

"How can you be so cynic?"

"My dear Blair, don't be biased here. Jack and Barbara constantly played with the limits of their relationship until one of them took it a step too far. I am not to be hold responsible for it."

"He never forgave her, didn't he?"

Bart nodded. "He hated me almost as much as he hated her. Our parents send him to Asia, far away from Barbara."

"What happened to her?"

"Her family sent her to South America during the pregnancy in order to avoid the scandal. She came back discreetly to give birth to Chuck. I instantly took him to Missy and she loved him better than Barbara could ever have."

"Did she and Jack see each other?"

Bart shrugged. "I never asked. Jack was forced to come back for Chuck's birth so I guess they talked. A few days after giving birth, Barbara went back to South America and married conveniently a few months ago. Jack went back to Asia."

"What happened to Missy?"

Bart sighed and Blair was able to catch an emotion of his face made of stone. It didn't last soon enough to be studied though.

"She became ill soon after Chuck's birth and died leaving me with a child I had no idea what to do with."

Blair shook his head, trying to focus on the present consequences of such a story.

"So Jack is seeking revenge?"

Bart nodded. "So ordinary, isn't it? Money, success, status... People's motivation is still much more human: revenge, love, hate. It's so basic it hasn't changed in the last couple of thousand years."

"Why is Barbara here?"

Bart shrugged. "Some years after Chuck's birth, they started their going back and forth once again. It was never the same though; there was too much hate underneath. In the end, they are still magnets. I guess Jack has promised Barbara a new chance, a real one."

"She makes up for her ancient mistake and they move on."

"Always so smart, Mrs. Waldorf."

"What did they tell Serena?"

Bart chuckled slightly. "A stupid story about Chuck being Barbara and Jack's kid. Apparently, Chuck has discovered some very nasty things about me and I have become a danger to my own son so they want to protect him."

"Chuck sells the company to Jack so he can stop you and Jack gives it back."

"Yes, very beautiful in theory. Of course, it won't happen like this."

"How do they know you're alive?"

"Jack has his sources. Or maybe he's been the one planning my death all along. Now, it's my turn to ask one question Blair. How the hell could Chuck believe such a story about his upbringing?"

Blair shook his head while all the pieces made finally sense. Serena, the night of the ball, asking her if you should lie to protect someone you love.

"He didn't."

_**Blair & Chuck**_

Chuck sat at home, bored. He wasn't used to this vacancy on a Monday morning. The bell rang and he got up, curious to get a visit at such an hour.

"Blair? Shouldn't you be in class or something?"

"I have more important matters. In fact, we both do."

Chuck observed her warily. He recognized the expression on her face; it was the one she wore the day before any fundamental battle.

"Sit down Chuck."

Chuck obeyed, frowning at her. "What's happening Blair?"

"I am so sorry about everything you're about to hear."

One hour later, Chuck sat on his sofa dumbfounded.

"It was not my place to tell but I guessed it would be less brutal."

Chuck nodded, aware that Blair knew as well as him that such knowledge couldn't be anything but brutal.

"We'll win this, Chuck."

Chuck shrugged. "I guess there is nothing to win, Blair. My father is alive, therefore the company goes back to him and I am the heir once again."

Blair cast her eyes down. "Chuck, do you have something on your father?"

"Would it be okay if we talk about this some other day? I am a bit... overwhelmed right now."

Blair nodded and got up, walking towards the door. "Just so you know Chuck, I'll be there when you're ready."

Chuck nodded, grateful for the sheer truthfulness of such a statement. As the door closed, he kept on sating there, thinking. How did he feel? He felt mostly numb, to say the truth. He didn't know how to digest everything he now knew. It was simply too much. Nobody could take that much, could they? If he had, however, to pinpoint his deepest feeling with a word, it would probably have been "defeated". He felt defeated as fuck. Every person he had confided in had lied to him. His father didn't care, his biological mother abandoned him and has come back to destroy her, his uncle hates him and his girlfriend lied to his face. The only person who had probably cared was dead almost from the start. Chuck chuckled at the absurdity of it all; he had become the living caricature of the rich and unhappy boy. He gathered some things, caressed Monkey –the only creature he could be sure of his loyalty- and went out for a walk. He deserved as much.

_**Serena Vs. Chuck**_

Before opening the door, Chuck took a deep breath. He didn't want to see her. Seeing her was the last thing he wanted on earth right now. He had felt the impulse to take a ticket plane and fly himself out to Thailand or someplace like it. This time, however, he had decided it wasn't a valid option. He couldn't keep destroying himself for people who didn't give a fuck. He had to do this. No other options left.

He was greeted with a smiling Serena and nothing hurt as much. The expression on his face, of almost pure despise, talked fast enough. Then she knew; as easy as that. She knew the world had finally fell onto her shoulders, sinking her to the ground.

"So, are you going to try to defend yourself or not even that?"

Serena stayed frozen to the spot, knowing that nothing she could say would save her that night.

"I did it to protect you."

"They lied to you. Isn't it funny? They lie to you, you lie to me and I lose everything."

Serena swallowed, tears in her eyes. "It can't be. She was so emotional..."

Chuck chuckled cynically. "A very good actress, isn't she?"

"So she isn't your mother?"

"Oh, she indeed is. She simply didn't came back to protect me. She came back to gain Jack back with no regards for destroying me in the process."

"I don't understand."

"Long story short: Bart is alive, Jack and Barbara lied to you and I've lost my empire."

Serena shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. Her mother had been right, she had been the stupidest in this drama.

"I trusted you with the most important thing in my life, Serena. I almost don't trust anybody, for nothing but I trusted you. I put my life between your hands and you were lying it to me!"

"I thought I was protecting you! They told me Bart would kill you." 

"If you had trusted me as I trusted you, I would have investigate and find out the truth."

"I am sorry Chuck, we'll find a way to get Bass Industries back."

"Forget about the fucking Bass Industries! This is about you lying to me in the most crucial of moments!"

Chuck's cries cut Serena deep down.

"What's your excuse, Serena?"

"I'm sorry." Answered Serena, unable to say anything else.

"So am I. You destroyed the only pure thing I've ever had."

It was impossible to tell which of them was the saddest about that fact.

"Leave, please. I'll send your things to Lily's house tomorrow, first thing in the morning."

Serena nodded, openly crying, and ran out with her purse. Once inside the cab she had stopped, she let herself completely break.

_**Serena Vs. Blair**_

"Are you happy?"

Serena's voice wasn't a surprise to Blair. She knew it was coming. She turned back and was sad to see the mess her blonde friend had become.

"Don't you dare turn this on me, S."

"You didn't have the right."

"Someone had to find out what was truly going on. Someone had to tell him."

"Yes, but you could have given me the chance to do it myself."

"You should have trusted him."

"I was protecting him!"

Blair sighed. "Now I understand why you asked me that question the night of the ball, do you remember?"

Serena nodded, shakily. "If you knew something pretty big about someone but it could mess up the person forever, would you tell her?" Said Serena, repeating word by word what she had said that night.

"Do you remember what I answered?"

"You do what it takes to protect her."

"Then you asked if you protect them by lying or telling the truth."

"And you answered that it comes down about how much you know the person you're trying to protect."

"I would never have lied to Chuck about that, S."

"I know, B." Serena admitted that painful truth and started crying again, accepting Blair's embrace.

"Shh, don't cry S. You were still trying to protect him."

"I was wrong."

"You were but it was still out of love. It was still out of love, S."

Serena let herself go into Blair's arms, none of them knowing where that mess was really going.

"_**Will's voice dropped. "Everyone makes mistakes, Jem."  
>"Yes," said Jem. "You just make more of them than most people."<br>"I —"  
>"You hurt everyone," said Jem. "Everyone whose life you touch."<br>"Not you," Will whispered. "I hurt everyone but you. I never meant to  
>hurt you."<br>Jem put his hands up, pressing his palms against his eyes. "Will —"  
>"You can't never forgive me," Will said in disbelief, hearing the<br>panic tinging his own voice. "I'd be —"  
>"Alone?" Jem lowered his hand, but he was smiling now, crookedly. "And<br>whose fault is that?" **_

_****__**Cassandra Clare**__**, **__**Clockwork Prince**_


	13. Don't take the easy way out

"_**Revenge, the sweetest morsel to the mouth that ever was cooked in hell." **_

_****__**Walter Scott**__**, **__**The Heart of Midlothian**_

_**Chuck & Blair: Scheming Together.**_

Blair had told everything to Chuck who had, since then, stayed in a sort of catatonic state. Blair walked around the table in her living room, not bearing the silence anymore. "There has to be a way Chuck."

Chuck sighed for once again. He couldn't count how many sighs had left his mouth anymore. "Why don't we just let it be?"

Blair stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to look at him. The sheer determination in her eyes already telling Chuck everything he needed to knew. She approached him and pointed a finger at his chest.

"Chuck Bass, don't you dare give up on me. I won't let you. This is your damn empire, fight back for it for god's sake!"

"My girlfriend lied up to my face, my dad faked his death and forgot to tell me, my biological mother sold me out and my uncle tricked me into giving up the only thing I cared about. This is a bit too much Blair, even for me."

Blair sighed, sadness in her eyes. It wasn't fair. Chuck had never been perfect or pure but he didn't deserve so much pain. She sat next to him and took her hands in his.

"Chuck, I know. Believe me, I know. This is unfair and you shouldn't have to deal with this. I'd love to let you the time to heal but, sadly, we don't have such a time because I won't let them hurt you more, Chuck."

Chuck looked at Blair, looking for anything to hang on.

"You've taken enough blows, now it's time to fight back. We won't let them take this from you, okay?"

Chuck nodded. "Whatever you want Blair but I signed a paper. It doesn't matter anymore though since Bart is back. Everything is his again and now he doesn't even want to see my face. He thinks I'm absolutely worthless as a businessman and I don't blame him."

Blair shook her head energetically. "Stop it. Bart Bass can't be unattainable. We just need something that would take them both out of the game."

Chuck's eyes widened suddenly. With all the events going on, he had almost forgotten his hidden weapon.

"What? I know those eyes, what is it Chuck?"

"There might be something."

"What is it?"

"Some time ago I made some investigation about my father's business. They were some illegal things."

"There are illegal things in every empire, Chuck."

"Big things, Blair. Deep connections with the traffic of weapons in Asia among other things and I have the documentation to prove it."

Blair's face lighted up instantly. "That's it."

"Bart Bass is a very dangerous man, Blair. It would be suicidal to come up against him."

Blair smirked, joining her hands. "You're absolutely right, Chuck. That's why we aren't going to be the ones to go up against him."

Chuck frowned for a second before smiling. "Jack."

Blair nodded. "We hand him the documentation and he will confront Bart all by himself. If we're lucky enough, they'll eliminate themselves on their own. At least one of them will disappear."

Chuck looked at Blair, tenderly. "Thank you Blair."

"You're welcome. I have missed our scheming, you know?"

Chuck chuckled, taking Blair's hands in his own. "So have I."

_**Dan & Serena: Prove You've Changed. **_

Serena sighed looking at her baggage from the door. She had too many things. "I thought you were better than this."

Serena turned around, recognizing the voice. "What are you doing here, Dan?"

"I wanted to check up on you. I didn't expect to see you preparing a new departure."

Serena sighed, too tired to argue. "This isn't your problem, Dan."

"I beg to differ."

Serena, irritated by the sense of superiority in his voice, turned around. "How would that be?"

Dan smiled at her, as if he knew a secret she didn't. "It's like reading a book, you can't abandon your characters in the middle of it. I've seen you grow Serena and this is not the end you deserve."

"If you want a perfect end, go see Blair! Isn't she the protagonist?"

Dan sighed. "This isn't about Blair, Serena. It's not even about Chuck. This is about you and the last years of your life. You already left long ago, remember? You left after a terrible mistake."

Serena looked down, ashamed. "It's different this time."

"How is it? Back then you were a scared little girl that couldn't own up her mistake. Right now, that's all I see."

"It hurts."

"Yeah, life hurts Serena."

Serena turned around and screamed at Dan. "Would you stop judging me? I am so sick of everybody judging me."

"No, Serena, I won't stop judging you and you should get used to it because it's going to continue for the rest of your life!"

"What the fuck do you want Dan?"

"To help you! To tell you the truth! You can't run away every time things go wrong or it hurts."

"Yes, I can! Maybe I'm weaker, all right?"

"The girl that I met was brave enough to come back and face her demons. You fought really hard to stop being the girl that left on a train years ago. Don't throw it through the window, Serena. Don't turn into that girl tonight."

"I'm not that girl anymore."

"Prove it."

"How?"

"Stay, hurt and fight."

"I failed, Dan. He hates me and he's right to."

Dan shook his head and approached Serena, cupping her face with his hands. "You made a mistake, Serena. It happens to all of us."

"I love him and he hates me."

"And it sucks but you can't turn your back every time you make a mistake. That's just not how things work."

Serena hugged Dan, terrified of what awaited her. He was right though, she couldn't be that girl ever again.

_**Chuck & Jack: Fall Right Into My Trap.**_

Chuck entered Jack's house with a smirk on his face. He smiled to himself mentally, no game is lost until it's over and this one still had one chapter to go.

"Chuck! What a surprise. I thought I'd never see my nephew again after the absolute ridicule you made a few days back."

Chuck smiled, approaching Jack, hands in his pockets. "You're right, it wasn't my smartest move but it doesn't really matter now, does it? Bart is back, you're out."

Jack snorted. "So are you. He'd never put the company back in your hands after what you did."

"At least I've learned valuable information about my family history, don't you think?"

"I'd hardly call that a family, Chuck."

"I have never agreed with you so much, Jack. So, a girl was the reason why you've always hated me so much?"

"I don't waste such a strong emotion on someone like you, Chuck."

"I don't blame you. If the woman I love had a son with my own older brother, I wouldn't like him very much either."

"You don't choose very well the women you love. I guess it's a family thing."

Chuck smiled. "Probably. Anyway, I'm not here for this."

"And why are you here for?"

"I've got something that may interest you."

"I doubt it."

"I've got information on Bart, Jack."

Jack shot his head up, unable to hide the interest that had erupted in him.

"What exactly?"

Chuck took his phone out of his pocket, handling it to Jack.

"As you can see on the documents, I hold very specific information on Bass Industries. Information that you could use to destroy Bart and get back the business."

"And why would you given it to me instead of using it yourself?"

"I know the rival, Jack. He's much stronger than me. Plus, he's still my father. A little bit of decorum would be nice."

"But you won't have the lead."

"I've got time. I'm young after all."

"What do you want?"

"Two very simple things: vice-presidency of the Industries and to be your legal heir."

Jack smirked. "I guess we could work out that."

"Great, my lawyer will come by tomorrow and have all of this signed."

"The documents?"

"He will also deliver those."

Jack smiled, satisfied with the transaction. "You may not be as stupid as I thought, Chuck."

Chuck extended his hand and Jack shook it. "That's a deal then."

_**Serena & Dan: Not Now, Not Because Of This.**_

Serena reached up Dan's neck, bending his head down. Dan let her bring his mouth closer to hers for a few seconds before coming back to their reality and gently pushing her away by the waist.

"You don't want me either?"

"This is another way of running away, you know?"

She sighed, looking at her feet.

"You said you loved him. You shouldn't kiss me just because he's mad. You're better than that, Serena. Our story is better than that. If we ever kiss again, it shouldn't be out of sorrow."

Serena nodded. "Then what should I do?"

"You fight. If you truly want him, you fight for him."

_**Blair & Chuck: Maybe Someday.**_

Blair and Chuck laughed as their glasses of champagne joyfully touched each other.

"We'll get them Chuck, I promise."

Chuck nodded, smiling. Blair coughed; conscious the subject she was about to brush was a difficult one.

"Have you talked to Barbara?"

Chuck shook his head.

"Don't you want to?"

"No, I already know everything I need. It's time to leave them behind. It's time to leave all the demons behind."

Blair nodded, not finding it in her to contest his decision.

"Thank you Blair, I wouldn't have done it without you."

"What are friends for?"

"Just friends?"

Blair almost choked up on her champagne. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

Chuck approached Blair, taking her hand in his. "I've missed you."

"So have I."

Chuck kissed her sweetly.

"We can't, Chuck."

"Don't you want to?"

Bart's words about Barbara and Jack flashed in Blair's mind.

"Yes, but we can't."

"Why?"

"Because I'm in love with Dan and you're in love with Serena."

"We're also in love with each other. We've always been."

"We can't end up like Barbara and Jack, Chuck. We'd destroy ourselves."

Chuck sighed. "We don't have to turn out like them."

"We've already have, Chuck."

Blair hugged Chuck's hand tightly. "Maybe someday, when we're both older and almost healed. If it's meant to be, we'll find each other at some point."

Chuck nodded, knowing it was of no use to argue with Blair on the matter.

"Chuck, I know Serena hurt you but you should cut her some slack. She made a mistake but it was out of love and you should value that."

Chuck sighed. "As you just said Blair, love can also destroy. In fact, nothing can destroy as much."

"_**The path we're taking is not a road, Kiyo, it's a pier, and it ends someplace where the sea begins. It can't be helped." **_

_****__**Yukio Mishima**_


	14. The end of the battle

"_**Sometimes, God doesn't send you into a battle to win it; he sends you to end it." **_

_****__**Shannon L. Alder**_

_**There Is Too Many People In This Party**_

Chuck sighed, bored out of his mind, while sipping his drink.

"Smile a bit, Charles. This party is to celebrate your father's return from the dead after all."

Chuck smirked. "You mean the one that caused me so much grief I almost suicide over it to discover, years later, that he had always been perfectly fine?"

Lily sighed. "I'm not saying things are perfect, Charles."

"I'm afraid that's an euphemism, Lily. Look, your husband is coming. I'll leave you to it."

Chuck made his way to the rooftop, careful to not even brush past Bart on his way up there.

Serena & Chuck: On The Rooftop.

"This is my spot, you know?"

Serena turned in order to discover a surprised Chuck, standing near the door.

"I can leave if you want to."

"That won't be necessary."

Chuck walked towards Serena and sat next to her, watching the magnificence of Manhattan's skyline.

"We really are the privileged ones after all, most of New York's inhabitants will never know the city like this. It's when she is more beautiful."

Serena smiled. "Why are you telling me that, Chuck?"

Chuck shrugged. "I thought some small talk would be appreciated after so much tension."

Serena smirked; letting her eyes wonder over the city Chuck loved so much from up high.

"It wasn't your fault, Serena. They tricked you because you aren't like us. You're a better person so you believe them."

"I was stupid."

Chuck shrugged. "You always have that risk when you trust people. That doesn't mean you should stop doing it."

Serena nodded. "But you're still mad at me, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. I wish this was a film and that I could tell you I'm over it because love conquers all then we'll kiss into the night while the credits end rolled onto the screen but I'm afraid it's slightly more complicated than that."

"I know. I don't blame you."

"I trusted you, Serena. For me that's an almost impossible task and you betrayed that trust even if it was for good reasons. You should have told me. You should have trusted me like I trusted you."

"Will you ever forgive me?"

"I don't know yet. I need time. I guess we'll find out sooner or later."

Serena sighed then nodded, accepting her fate.

"I just wanted to let you know that I don't hate you."

And that, Serena knew, meant a lot in Chuck's language at the moment. He took her hand in his and pressed tightly for a few seconds before letting go. Maybe not everything was lost.

Dan & Blair: Working On It.

"It's been a rough month."

Blair sighed, dropping her head onto her boyfriend's shoulder as they danced to the music.

"That's an euphemism and it's not even over yet."

"Do you think we'll make it?"

Blair frowned then looked up at Dan.

"Us, I mean. Do you think we'll make it as a couple?"

Blair thought about it for a few seconds before sighing and dropping her head on his shoulder once again.

"I don't know, Dan. I don't know if we'll make it but we'll work on it, yeah? That's what people do, they work on it."

Dan nodded and hugged Blair's waist tightly to him.

Bart & Chuck: The Last Conversation

"You've always had a thing for rooftops, since you were a kid."

Chuck smirked. "I guessed I got it from you, didn't I? The need to possess everything, to look at it from above."

"Probably. Sadly, you've never worked hard enough to get the position."

Chuck looked at his father in the eye. "It's funny, you know? When you faked your death, I almost threw myself from this same rooftop. I bet you thought it was such a demonstration of weakness."

"It was, Charles. You're not ready to work yet. You'll need to go to college now. I'll remove it from the Industries otherwise."

Chuck laughed slightly, looking at the skyline. "You can do whatever you like, Bart. I don't really care anymore."

"Have you ever?"

"I think I'm the only one that has. Now I'll leave you with your beloved skyline, the ultimate symbol of power because, frankly, it's the only thing you've got."

Chuck & Jack: Have Fun Up There.

Chuck and Jack's paths crossed on the staircase. As Chuck got down, Jack was finding his way up to Bart.

"Is he still up there?"

"All yours."

"Chuck!"

Chuck turned around, a pair of stairs down from Jack.

"I'm going to solve this now. Don't you want to be there?"

Chuck looked down, thinking about it for a moment. It would be nice to see Bart finally losing but he was too tired of everything. He was sick of their games, sick of their ploys, sick of them.

"Nah, I'll be fine."

Jack & Bart: The Ultimate Confrontation.

"Brother, to what do I own this honor?"

Jack shrugged. "Can't I come to congratulate my older brother?"

"How touching Jack, I'd almost believe you've missed me."

"I've known all along, Bart."

"Of course you have. The stunt you pull on Chuck was nice though, a beautiful move Jack. It's such a shame it has resulted being so useless."

Jack laughed. "Oh Bart, always so sure of yourself."

"One of us has to be."

Jack took his phone out of his pocket, handling it to Bart.

"What is that?"

"It turns out your son isn't as stupid as we both believed he was. We should have expected it really; a mix of genes between two manipulators such as Barbara and yourself couldn't have turned out any differently."

Bart scrolled down through his information, his anger raising.

"You don't have any proof."

"Actually, I do. I have the originals of those documents and many more. It's over, Bart. You lose."

Bart looked at Jack, red coloring his face. "We could rule this together, Jack."

Jack chuckled. "I don't think so. I'll never forgive you Barbara, Bart. Never."

"You're as weak as Charles. He could have been your son, you know?"

Jack launched himself at Bart, both of them ending up on the ground. After a bit of a fight, Bart had Jack on the edge, only waiting to be pushed.

"You were always such a nuisance, Jack. I should have end you long ago."

"If you push me, I'll bring you with me Bart."

"I doubt it."

Bart Bass was wrong though; when he pushed Jack, his strength reversed against him. They both ended up falling through Manhattan's sky, always rhythmically.

Blair & Chuck: What Will You Do Now?

Chuck and Blair were sitting at the entrance of the hotel, lost in deep thought.

"I would never have imagined it would end like this."

"Real life always surpasses fiction, doesn't it?"

Blair nodded. "Are you fine?"

"Maybe I'll be, someday."

"Bass Industries is now yours, Chuck."

"It looks like it."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I think I'm going to take a nice vacation, far away from here."

"You can't get far away from yourself, you now? Not even if you go to the other side of the Earth."

"Yeah, I think I've learned that by now."

They both got up and started walking towards a cab, passing a crying Barbara. Chuck didn't spare her a glance. It was over.

Blair & Serena: Sisters Always Last.

"You can't keep going on like this, Serena."

The blonde girl looked up from the couch where she laid hugging Monkey. "It's only been a month."

"That's enough time."

"I miss him."

"He'll come back."

"How do you now?"

"It's Chuck, he'll come back when he's ready."

"Then there is no problem with me sitting here until then."

"We don't know how long he will take."

Serena sighed sitting up. "I don't really know where to begin. Everything is such a mess."

Blair chuckled to herself. "My dear S, nobody knows where to begin. Everything is always a mess. Let's take the dog out for a walk then we'll go shopping!"

"Everything gets better with shopping, right?"

Blair smiled. "Of course it does!"

Serena got up and hugged Blair. "I love you, B."

"So do I, S."

"_**That was the thing about best friends. Like sisters and mothers, they could piss you off and make you cry and break your heart, but in the end, when the chips were down, they were there, making you laugh even in your darkest hours." **_

_**Kristin Hannah, **__**Firefly Lane**_


	15. Epilogue: we'll see, huh?

_Here is the end. I want to apologize for how long it took me to finish this, I still can't fathom how it happened. I also apologize for the ending since it's probably not exactly what you expected but it's what felt right and, as a writer, this is what I felt I had to do. I also want to thank you, sincerely, for the great support you have shown for this story. I want to thank you for every time you've read this, for every favorite you've given it and for every comment you left. _

_Love,_

_LoveWritingPictures. _

"_**Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them." **_

_****__**Albert Einstein**_

Dear Serena,

I am sorry to have left without telling you but I decided so on the spot, without truly thinking things through.

I hope this letter will be enough for now. I do not want to be found just yet so I won't tell you where I'm at exactly. What I can tell you is that if paradise does exist –and God knows the entrance is forbidden to me-, this place is the closest thing to it on Earth.

Chuck took a few seconds to appreciate the colors of his surroundings; the ocean was the bluest blue he had ever seen and the sand was the softest beige. He breathed in and out slowly, savoring the calm enveloping the scenery.

I needed to leave far away from New York; far away from Bart, far away from Jack, far away from Blair and even for you. Don't be offended since it's nothing personal. If I could have gotten far away from myself, I would have too. I needed the distance to clear up some things.

All my life I've been seeking out Bart's approbation. I've never stopped being that little kid who wanted a hug, a good word, or a smile... Something, as small as it was, showing his father's approval but I never got it. I've done some terrible things in my life Serena, but I've needed years to finally understand that this one –maybe only this one for that matter- wasn't my fault. I wasn't the one with the problem. Bart was. He couldn't love. He was a cold bastard and that's the whole story. Sometimes it's as simple as that.

I'd like you to be the first one to know that I have sold Bass Industries. Yes, you haven't gone blind and you're reading correctly. I thought it would be hard to give away something I've wanted for so long but it was surprisingly easy, I would even say freeing. I felt so much lighter once it was done.

Chuck thought back to the moment he had signed the papers and the incredible feeling of freedom that had gone through him.

The Bass Empire wasn't my thing; it was my father's. To be honest, I don't really know what I will do now. I've still to figure out who I am without Bart Bass. I have still to many questions about Chuck, one of them being who the hell he is exactly and what does he want. I guess we've all got the same ones, haven't we?

I'd tell you more things but nothing makes really sense just yet. I am fine. I guess that's the most important part. I'll figure how to heal someday even though I know you never completely heal. It's just how the game is. I'm not the only one playing it; you all know how it rolls.

I also miss you. I miss the lightness, the playful banter, the afternoons spent on the sofa just petting Monkey's ears. By the way, how is my dog? I bet he will resent me for having left him without notice. Tell him that I'll bribe him into forgiving me through food and that I love him very much.

I hope you're doing fine. I am sure you're doing fine. I believe I'll come back to you someday. Maybe you'll wait. I guess we'll see, huh?

Love,

Chuck.

Somewhere in the Upper East Side, Serena smiled closing the letter. Maybe she would wait for him. Maybe they weren't such a mess after all. She guessed they'll see, huh?

"_**There is no real ending. It's just the place where you stop the story." **_


End file.
